I don't have kids either, so I could be wildly wrong. I have the impression that it mainly has to do with parental convenience; no one wants to get up at 2AM to give the kid dinner nor deal with a kid who gets up at 5AM (or 10AM). Most of my parental friends work, which surely plays into this.
I share your impression that many people over-regulate this and they ought to go ahead and loosen up for Shabbat.
If the kid is used to eating at six, she's going to be hungry at six. You can't make a hungry child wait two hours for dinner.
Similarly, if a kid is used to going to bed at eight, she may be willing to stay up later, but she is not necessarily going to be a joy to be around.
The situation gets worse when you have more than one kid (which I don't, but I have cared for several kids at once). It is just easier to feed everyone at once, and put everyone to sleep at the same time, than it is to feed each one when they are hungry and put each one to bed when they are tired.
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I share your impression that many people over-regulate this and they ought to go ahead and loosen up for Shabbat.
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Similarly, if a kid is used to going to bed at eight, she may be willing to stay up later, but she is not necessarily going to be a joy to be around.
The situation gets worse when you have more than one kid (which I don't, but I have cared for several kids at once). It is just easier to feed everyone at once, and put everyone to sleep at the same time, than it is to feed each one when they are hungry and put each one to bed when they are tired.
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