My family moved from South Carolina to Spain. My kids stay up late and are free to walk alone in the city.

07.08.2024 - 12:11 / insider.com / Star Wars

Since our American family moved from South Carolina to Madrid, I've been slowly adapting to all things Spain.

We are currently in our second summer living in Spain and one thing I've noticed for sure is our daily schedule shifting.

In Spain, it is very common for children of all ages, from babies to school-aged children, to be out with their parents very late. With the sun setting later and Spanish summers meaning long dinners outside and slow meals with friends, it is very typical for children to stay up after 11:00 p.m. on summer nights.

Our 11- and 9-year-old sons have adapted to a summer sleep schedule in Spain that is typically 11 p.m. — 11:00 a.m. In the US, our children were car-dependent to see their friends, and so get-togethers ended much earlier. Occasionally, we would get together with friends on a summer weekend, and it would turn into a late night, but in Spain, that feeling lasts every night.

Our boys have loved having the freedom to walk themselves to the store in Madrid compared to in the US. In our neighborhood, they can walk or take their electric scooters to bakeries, supermarkets, soccer fields, pharmacies, restaurants, and more.

Related stories

It is very common to see school-aged children under 10 out with friends without their parents in these small neighborhoods, helping to foster a sense of independence at a young age.

Their school friends in Madrid like Star Wars, so our boys have started to like it, too. The other day, our youngest child asked us if he could walk to the local bazaar store (equivalent to a Dollar Store) to look for lightsabers. We, without hesitation, said yes, gave him our credit card and sent him on his way.

I think back to the years of raising our boys in the United States and remember the feeling of needing to get into the car to take them anywhere and needing to be in person to pay. Whether it's with my card or euros in his pocket, it's awesome watching our children be able to practice this real-life skill of commerce at such a young age.

Admittedly, we weren't big soda people when living in the US. We would say the occasional yes to our kids to indulge in a sweet drink at a birthday party or for a special occasion, but in Spain, soda is life when you're a child.

I was at first so shocked to see the soda culture in Spain with caffeinated drinks being served to children, especially late in the evenings during dinner. Dinnertime in Spain is considerably later than in the US. On a normal summer evening, we are beginning to decide what we'd like to eat for dinner around 7:30 p.m. By the time we decide, we walk with our shopping bag down to the local supermarket and purchase the day's fresh ingredients, never fully stocking the fridge. Dinner often begins