Bedtime Battles

I never thought when Luke was 9 we would still be having these bedtime battles. I have never heard of any parent struggling to get their kids to sleep in their own rooms at 9 years old!! I absolutely hate bedtime! When Luke was a baby we used to put him in his crib and he would just go to sleep. Then when we moved him to a bed he started wandering the house.

He loves to sleep on the floor in our room. Before we left for Ukraine, we tried to make a schedule for when he could sleep in our room. He is so strong willed it drives us nuts. He would fight us every single night to sleep in our room. He doesn't say he is scared he just wants to sleep with someone else. Let's not forget he just doesn't need sleep. He is a night owl. If we let him, he would stay up until midnight each night and wake at 7.

Since Tetyana has been home he has wanted to sleep with her. She is a dream at bedtime. We put her to bed at 9 and she just goes to sleep! Doesn't get out five hundred times with a million different excuses. We let them sleep together until I figured out she wasn't getting any sleep. They would talk until late and then he would rise early like ususal and wake her up. She is such a drama queen without sleep (ok, so am I!!). So I have been separating them but then he sneaks into her room after we go to sleep.

Any advice out there on how to get this child to go to sleep in his own bed? My mantra that ususally keeps my sanity is "they won't go to college doing this/not being able to do that" and try to let things go. But we want our time at night too. I would like to fall asleep without being woken up. He is 9 for crying out loud, not 9 months!