Getting Sleepyhead Out of Bed...Every School Day!

Tuesday, 01 December 2009

Getting Sleepyhead Out of Bed...Every School Day!

image source
My son Cheeky is 5 now.. over the years I have always been pretty stubborn about his bed times maintaining that he needs his full night's sleep! So he is packed off to bed at 7:30 on school nights and 8:30 pm on the others. However it is a big struggle of course especially in winter. Without much physical activity he is just not tired enough at 7:30! [Note to self: bring out the trampoline]. I am though...not just tired, I am exhausted!
However that is only part of the battle, the battle continues in the morning! On weekends when I am trying hard to sleep in, the little imp climbs into my bed at 6 am with the question "So today is going to be a fun day huh?" followed by "Rise and shine sleepy heads"! I tell him "Just you wait till it is Monday morning and I will return the favor" and sure enough I have to! For on Monday mornings the imp is the personification of sleepy head!
It was never a problem till last year, but with kindergarten and a full day of school this year, not to mention the ominous warning of the "tardies" on the progress report. Now we refuse to get up! Mommy is found cajoling, cuddling, kissing and finally threatening at 7:30 am every morning. After a little tussle with the blankets on the bed (not to mention a mom who is just sorely tempted to cuddle in and join the party), Cheeky has to be marched to the restroom every morning! Still we barely head out of the house in time for school every morning.. and make it on the dot at 8:30 am every morning! I wish we could be at the very least 5 minutes early.. but never has that happened! The little imp drags his feet every day!!
You would think school was the problem? Every afternoon the same Cheeky imp drags his feet home and wishes he was an "After schooler" so he can spend more time with his friends! Sigh!!
So do you have a sleepy head on your hands? Are you the personal alarm clock every morning or do you have a magic mantra to get through the morning bustle?

recommend
recs 0
share
email
sent 0

Comments (11)

my little man is only 2 so we don't have to worry about getting up.. plus he is wide awake and ready to play at 7:15am.
I know that my brother was one of those sleepyheads tho, so I got myself used to getting up without my mom waking me when I was young.
Try setting his alarm clock 15 min ahead. And if he is as smart as he sounds he might figure it out, so I'd set all the clocks in the house 10 - 15 min ahead. That way if you don't get him out the door right on time, you will be ok.
Just an idea, tho it works in our house.
- 12/1/2009 1:23 PM
- LadyGwenivere@xanga (message)
- reply
Time management is needed to train for kids. Get a Clock to RING.. but a kid of 5 is too young to follow our adult's setting time schedule....
- 12/1/2009 1:51 PM
- beepeing@xanga (message)
- reply
Yeah. Get one of those old school alarm clocks like in the picture. Those will bust your ear drums and you can't push a "snooze" button. Sure it might be cruelty towards children, but it will wake them up. If all else fails, invest in an airhorn!!! :D
- 12/1/2009 3:31 PM
- ShimmerBodyCream@xanga (message)
- reply
I got an alarm clock when I started kindergarten, and it somehow became my responsibility to get up every morning. I did, and I was the one who was upset if I got up late. It might be something to try over Christmas, either getting him one as a present or letting him pick one himself, and then letting him start the year as a "big boy", getting up by himself.
(Side note, I had a Garfield alarm clock, and it worked from my first day of first grade until the end of the summer after my senior year of high school. Then it died, and I miss it a bunch!)
- 12/1/2009 4:15 PM
- Katja88@xanga (message)
- reply
i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but old habits die hard and if that's how your son is..... *sucks in breath* he might just not like getting up early and that's him. I have ALWAYS been a morning person. I wake up at 6 am no problem. I love getting up. My brother sounds like your son.... ever since he was a little kid he hated getting up to go to school. Even if he had an alarm clock or my mom dumped water over his head, he refused to get up.
- 12/1/2009 6:26 PM
- shes_lump@xanga (message)
- reply
You named your child Cheeky?
- 12/1/2009 8:35 PM
- tinyxballerinax3@xanga (message)
- reply
Give him the responsibility of getting up for himself. Give him an alarm clock, show him how to set it, tell him what time he needs to wake up, what time he needs to be ready by, etc. and then if he isn't ready by the designated time, he goes to school in whatever state he's in. Even if he's in his pajamas. Sounds cruel but it works and you will only have to send him to school in his pajamas once or twice before he learns. (Warn the teacher ahead of time). Good luck!
- 12/2/2009 9:46 PM
- BarniganFlarn@xanga (message)
- reply
We take @BarniganFlarn@xanga - 's approach; the kids are told it's time to get up and warned once that if they're not ready with 5 minutes to go, they will go as-is. Nobody has ever made it to school in their PJs.
- 12/3/2009 3:28 AM
- filtered_sunlight (message)
- reply
I think I will follow all your advice and invest in that clock.. however it is not so much getting him up as it is getting him out of bed. He will get up and then continue to laze around in bed! He still hasnt got the concept of being late to school, and since he goes to a fairly easy going private school they are not too tough on him when he is late! So the little guy is just taking it easy and lazing around every morning.. while his mom is having a nervous breakdown! Meanwhile on weekends, he is dragging me out of bed to begin his "Fun day" as he calls it!
- 12/4/2009 3:53 PM
- CheekyTales (message)
- reply
@tinyxballerinax3@xanga - lol! Cheeky is a nickname I gave him as time went by... he lives up to it I can tell you that!! :) He is a smart talking little imp for sure!
- 12/4/2009 4:01 PM
- CheekyTales (message)
- reply
兼差
 台北酒店經紀
 酒店經紀
 酒店打工
 酒店兼差
 酒店兼職
 酒店工作
 酒店上班
 寒假打工
 暑假打工
 酒店
 禮服酒店
 合法酒店經紀
 喝酒
 酒店消費
 制服酒店
 酒店喝酒
- 12/22/2009 3:00 PM
- jkl338804 (message)
- reply

About the Author

From: CheekyTales
Name: CheekyTales
About Me: I am a parent, freelance writer and an IT professional - Oh yes in that order! For parenting does take a lot of time and energy. However it has taught me something.. being a parent has taught me that I can never be the master, I am always going to fumble and that it is okay to laugh out loud about it! Cheeky tales is an attempt to laugh at the little oddities in day to day life! And I find the reason to laugh in my toddler, my family, my daily observations and most of all in myself! Join me in my wonderful quest for laughter and life!