Proverbs 22:6 (New International Version)
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
My son is driving me crazy lately! He's a pretty good kid overall. He makes good grades and doesn't get into trouble at school. I just wish I could get him to handle certain responsibilities better...like getting ready to go somewhere on time.
Both my teenagers have band camp this week and next week. This morning K woke T up to get ready and I woke him up again, but both times he went back to sleep. Then when K's friend showed up to take them to the school, he still wasn't up. So I told K she and her friend should leave and I would take him. Then I woke him up AGAIN and he went upstairs to get dressed(he'd been asleep on the couch.) I assumed that's what he was doing...till I called upstairs and realized he was back in bed again! Arghhh! So he ended up being late to band camp. I ended up lecturing him all the way there. And he seems not to care at all.....
School starts in a few weeks and I won't be able to take T to school unless he gets up really early. Otherwise he has to ride with K's friend. If he is going to ride with K and her friend, he will have to finish getting ready and get himself out of the door. He will have to do this without my prodding as I will already be at work. So I'm a little nervous about how this is going to go. Will I have to take off work to go take him to school if he misses riding with them (nope, can't do that every day and keep my job). Will I allow him to stay home for a day with serious consequences to deter that from happening again? Will I call the truant officer to go get him?
Feel free to make suggestions...
It's been a year!
4 years ago
2 comments:
My mom could comiserate quite well with you! She had such a time with me, especially when I was in high school. We didn't know until many years later that I actually have a sleep disorder (restless limb syndrome) that caused me not to get the kind of restful sleep I really needed. Because of that, I absolutely HATED getting up in the morning... still do. Short of seeing a doctor and getting on some medication (which is ultimately what I had to do), here are a few things that helped me. Warning: there WILL be a fight over these 'cuz they ain't fun, but maybe with some calm discussion beforehand, it will go over well.
1. Adjust bedtime. Have him get to be earlier than he is now. If he's a "night owl" like me, he won't like that choice, but he'll need to try.
2. Put a second (and maybe a third) alarm clock across the room from his bed so that he has to get.out.of.bed. to turn it off.
3. Try "Clocky," an alarm clock that literally runs away from you and finds a new hiding place every time you hit snooze. You have to hunt for it to shut it up, and it is effective in annoying you awake! It works! http://www.nandahome.com/
4. Make sure his pre-bedtime food intake is limited and not inclusive of things that will cause his metabolism to rev up. Also make sure his activities before bed are calming ones.
5. Here's the one I hated growing up: if my getting up late really inconvenienced my mom who was doing her best to get everyone where they needed to be, I lost a privilege. I couldn't use the car for a week (or these days, no iPod or cell phone or Facebook, etc.) If that didn't work and the problem continued, I was forced to give up an activity I loved (for me my summer job or drill team). The folks made me understand - in advance - that getting up was a responsbility and those other activities were privileges. No privileges without responsibility. That turned out to be a "life lesson" because employers don't tolerate tardiness, and I was already conditioned for that when I hit the real world.
Well, I've written a novel. But this is something I've struggled with my whole life. Hopefully one of these suggestions will help. Good luck!
Oh, jeez. This is a hard one. We're about to adjust bedtimes, too.
You know your kids. You know whether the severe consequences (e.g. love and logic) would be handled well and teach the lesson, and you know whether it would be too much. But.it's. hard! I agree!
Post a Comment