Members
Change Profile

Discussion
Topics
Last Day
Last Week
Tree View

Search Board
Keyword Search
By Date

Utilities
Contact
Administration

Documentation
Getting Started
Formatting
Troubleshooting
Program Credits

Coupons
Best Coupons
Freebie Newsletter!
Coupons & Free Stuff

 

A struggle every morning for school

Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: A struggle every morning for school
By Tripletmom on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 09:35 am:

My DD just doesn't want to get up in the morning .She sleeps 10-11 hrs a night so I know its not lack of sleep.I've set her alarm clock 10 minutes before she needs to get up for a warning.Once she is up she is fine.Any suggestions so we dont have to have a battle every morning.I hate to start the day off with everyone being grumpy

By Trina~moderator on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 10:10 am:

My DD (7) is usually grumpy in the morning. Always has been. She takes after her mother. LOL! I first gently wake her up by rubbing her back. She moans, and then I wake up DS. DH goes in to wake her up again before he leaves for work. She seems to enjoy this special morning time with Daddy, and this approach has worked the best for us. I wake her up first and then she lies awake in bed until DH goes in about 15 minutes later.

DS (9) is much different. I also wake him up by rubbing his back but then I progress to tickling and kissing him. He giggles and then jumps out of bed. I learned the hard way NOT to use this approach with DD. LOL!

By Dawnk777 on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 10:48 am:

Trina, did your DD get really grumpy about that?

My kids like to be woken up by me bringing the dog in, to give them kisses! So, even though they are 16 and 14, I still go and wake them up. Recently, though, Sarah wanted to take a shower before school and set her alarm and got herself up! So, she can do it! My kids usually shower at night, before bed. They don't always like to do it, in the morning.

Tripletmom, maybe rubbing her back would help. My kids don't like to pop out of bed, when I come in. They usually get up a few minutes later.

By Tink on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 10:51 am:

We have to let two of my kids wake up slowly. I go in their rooms, rattle around a little (making sure they have clothes picked out for school, putting away any lost toys, etc.), then rub their backs and have them walk out to the living room (usually half-asleep). I keep a running conversation with them, even though they just grunt at me, while I start breakfast while they hang out at the table or on the couch. This way they've had about 15 minutes of escalating noise and interaction expected from them. My kids eat breakfast before getting dressed because I was tired of changing clothes after a spill. My other dk takes about two minutes to stretch in bed before she pops out of bed, ready to take on the world.:) She's more like her mama.

Is there something special that your dd can have if she wakes up easily? Maybe a special breakfast cereal or cinnamon toast or ten minutes of cartoon or reading time? My ds is a TV junkie but slow as molasses in the morning so he knows that any time he has left in the morning (after getting ready for school) can be spent watching cartoons. Good luck!

By Tripletmom on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 11:09 am:

I also go into her room first.Gently rub her back sometimes I can tickle her sometimes a laugh or sometimes I know when to back off.We get her clothes ready at night b/c theres just no time in the morning.My DH will go in after me, she likes it when he carries her to the couch downstairs.I let her watch t.v. while myself or DH makes her breakfast,which is usually a hot breakfast very rarely does she have cereal unless she's feeling independent that morning.I've tried all this.I guess this is just her and I'm hoping she'll make more of an effort instead of fighting me on everything.I don't want to get into the habit of having to threaten her for everything.If my DH hears her fighting with me then he gets upset telling her to do what I ask.Usually on a rough morning I'll get an extra hug from her and I know she's sorry but I wish it wouldn't esculate to this.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 03:24 pm:

What motivated Emily to get up in grade school, was that if she got up and got dressed without problems, she could have computer time before school. Worked like a charm for her, although not so much anymore.

By Tripletmom on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 05:03 pm:

Dawn-The computer,playstation,books motivated Katie for awhile but not anymore.I started asking her to get dressed while I went downstairs to hide and she had to find me,that doesn't work anymore either.

By Unschoolmom on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 06:39 pm:

Homeschool!

:) Sorry, I had to. :D

By Pamt on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 07:12 pm:

Take her to school in her pajamas without breakfast. It will only take once! :) Really.

Sorry, but I think starting in first grade that kids need to be taught to get up with an alarm clock. The backscratches, snuggles, and tickles are nice, no doubt (and we do these at bedtime), but PLEASE for the sake of your future DIL/SIL teach your kids to get up with an alarm.

My MIL woke up my DH every day of his life. Fast forward to college...DH would sleep through an 11 am class repeatedly. Not because he didn't have an alarm clock---he did. However, he is such a heavy sleeper and hadn't been conditioned to get up to an alarm so he would sleep through it every time. When we first got married it was a huge bone of contention b/c he depended on me to wake him up. This was a problem because: (1)I am not his mother and didn't want to be put in that role and (2)He had to be at work before I had to be at class and it was ridiculous for me to get up early just to wake him up. Having kids has changed all that, but it really was an ongoing struggle off and on our first few years of marriage. Kids don't have to be happy when they wake up, but they do have to wake up!

If she doesn't have time to get dressed or fix her hair that will cure her. Also, wondering what time she goes to bed at night? Kids really need about 12 hours of sleep. Much to his dismay, my 12 y/o still goes to bed at 8:30 on school nights (and hates it!), but he obviously needs it because he falls right asleep.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 08:47 pm:

12 hrs.? That means my kids would have to be in bed by 6:30 pm. That's just not realistic. We often don't eat dinner until 6:30.

By Pamt on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 08:50 pm:

Oops! You're right Trina! I didn't mean 12 hours...that's more for toddlers. Yikes! Serves me right for being on a forum when I should be studying. *slinks off to go read*

By Tink on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 09:00 pm:

While I understand the trouble you had getting your DH used to an alarm clock as an adult, Pam (my DH had the same problem), I don't think that waking a six, seven or eight year old up with a backrub is going to cause a problem ten or twenty years later. My dd knows that this is her last year to be woken this way and that next school year, she'll be expected to wake with an alarm clock.

By Reds9298 on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 09:16 pm:

I think you're right Tink...as long as you set an age limit or whatever you want to call it for "okay, now you're going to use an alarm clock", I think that's okay. As long as an end DOES come to the rubbing and tickling, etc. at some resonable point.

Ditto Pam on the going to school without breakfast or the right clothes or whatever the logical consequence is for not getting up on time. Have you read Love and Logic? There's a section just on getting ready for school and I thought it was great! They recommend statements /actions like "Breakfast is served until 6:30", "The car is leaving in 10 minutes". Just a thought from someone whose not getting anyone off to school just yet!!:)

By Debbie on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 08:43 am:

I had a hard time with my youngest ds when school first started. I did have to move his bedtime up to 7:30. I make sure we eat at 6pm, so he can be in bed by then. He definitely needs more sleep, and does fall asleep within minutes. I also do what PamT suggested. My boys have 30 minutes after they get up to "wake up" then they eat breakfast, get dressed, make beds, etc. If they don't do it, they don't eat and they go to school in pj's. I haven't had to take them to school in their pj's. But, my youngest did miss breakfast a few times. It didn't take him long to realize he needed to eat if he was hungry, or he would have to wait until snack time at school. My ds stopped giving me hard time within a few weeks and now we have peaceful mornings.

By Dana on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 08:44 am:

I find looking for something exciting that day and talking about it puts DD in a good mood. Our ENTIRE family are not morning people, so I understand her troubles. We need to wake at 6am to get ready for school! YUCK.

Also, I used to turn on a video first thing in the morning. This gave DD the chance for a slow wake up. Having her breakfast ready and waiting also helps (after the initial jolt of having to wake).

Talking about waking up the night before has been very helpful as well. We talk about what we can do during our "special time" while everyone else sleeps. But this only happens if she wakes on time and gets her routine completed.

By Tripletmom on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 08:55 am:

Today was a GREAT morning.I had a talk with her last night and explained I needed more of her help in the morning.I also told her that she would go to school in her pj's if she wasn't ready.She already goes to bed at 7:30 and reads until 8pm.I could never send her to school with no breakfast that is too important of a meal for me to cancel.Today she was up 20 minutes earlier and she actually made cheese and crackers and had a pear for breakfast.I thanked her when she left for school and said she did a great job.My DH also told her that she could pick the music on the way b/c she did such a great job.Thx for all the info ladies,Hopefully this will continue.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 11:19 am:

Tripletmom, I'm glad today worked out better for you!

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 12:55 pm:

Moms, be careful depending on those morning snacks at school because they don't always happen. I found that out the hard way. Luckily, I always make sure my kids eat breakfast. I am very disappointed in my local school that they don't enforce snack time at school. Not morning or afternoon snack. Because some of the kids go quite a long time from lunch to the end of school, or from breakfast to lunch, depending on their grade. Now kindys and pre-k always have their snacks, but even first graders have been known to not have their afternoon snack.

I know this is off topic, but I just wanted to let you know that sometimes snack is not mandatory, and kids can get pretty hungry before lunch if they haven't had breakfast...

I threw a fit when I found out that that is one of the discipline methods in my children's school. They take away snack time in the afternoon! What?!?!

By Sandysmom on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 08:28 pm:

Sherri, I haven't read all the posts, but does your dd like to be read to? Maybe you can have her pick out a book she likes the night before or start a book like Stuart Little and make it a practice to read to her for 15 minutes every morning if she gets up at a certain time. That may be a motivator. I really don't remember having that issue with my dd, or if I did, it was only a short stage.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 09:03 pm:

Adena - WHAT?!! I can't believe that!!!

By Tink on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 09:26 pm:

My children don't get a snack at school. Kindergarten doesn't at all and 1st-6th grade can take something from their lunch and eat it during the morning recess, if they want a snack. I specifically send an extra piece of fruit or veggie in their lunches to get them through until lunchtime. They eat around 7am and lunch isn't until 12:30pm. Almost six hours is waaaay too long for a kid to go without eating, IMO. They don't have a pm snack but they are home by 3:00 and they eat then. Actually, I'm surprised that it's so unusual that snack isn't offered.

Sorry to add to the off-topic issue.:)

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - 09:38 am:

Another good morning,lets hope it continues.Talking of breaks and snacks at DD's school they have two 40 minute lunches.She has a drink,1/2 sandwich and fruit at each break.The school also offers veg/fruit every afternoon.I like this set-up b/c she doen't have to wait that long to eat.They are also allowed to keep bottled water on there desk all day.

By Tayjar on Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - 10:14 am:

40 minute lunch and snacks? My kids get 15 minutes from the time they get in line to the time they have to get to the playground. And, absolutely no snacks unless it's a special party, like Christmas. Sorry to be off topic but I'm stunned and jealous at the same time.

By Luvn29 on Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - 10:44 am:

Wow Tayjar, are you sure about the 15 minute thing for lunch? Or is that for playground time afterwards? Because we have half an hour for lunch, which does include the time it takes to get to the cafeteria, and through the line, and to the seat. But then the recess time (when we get it, which is only during good weather) starts at line-up time to playground time, and is only fifteen minutes.

I couldn't imagine the kids only getting that much time to eat. I'd be complaining to someone...

By Tink on Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - 11:12 am:

15 minutes from classroom door to playground for recess is normal for lunch here, too. My kids are slow eaters and they have to wolf down as much as they can while they can. I used to get upset when I'd see half their lunches still in their bag when they'd get home. Once they explained that they didn't have time to eat, I made sure they had something that could be eaten during their snack recess.

By Kiki on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 05:49 am:

All I can say is that my oldest DD is not a morning person and sometimes it takes a few times of me tickling her feet and nudging (sp?) to get her up.

By Paulas on Saturday, May 6, 2006 - 12:28 pm:

My DD is not really a morning person either. I do wake her up (guess I should get her an alarm clock since she is almost 10). We usually wake her, then her brother (he's 6 and gets up like a charm), then go back and remind her to get her bottom out of bed. Sometimes it takes setting the timer in the kitchen to get her moving. It's a struggle here too. She goes to bed around 7:30 but I'm sure she reads or plays. We wake her up at 7:00. She has always needed lots of sleep.

On a side note: check to see she is getting a morning snack at school. Our school has a free breakfast program which is nice. They also go outside to play for 15 minutes in the morning. When they come in they have their snack while they do their work. My rule for this snack: nothing that has sugar has the first 2 ingredients! They only have 15 minutes to eat at lunch in their class and then they go outside. There is another 15 minute break in the afternoon. I let my students bring a snack to class after this break as well...nothing with a spoon (takes up too much time). Our students all have water bottles at their desk too.


Add a Message


This is a private posting area. A valid username and password combination is required to post messages to this discussion.
Username:  
Password:
Post as "Anonymous"