Remember when your kids were babies and you would've given anything to get them to sleep just a little longer? Now that they actually have to wake up early to get to school, it's practically impossible to drag them out of bed. Teens don't just sleep, they hibernate on a nightly basis -- and they're mad as bears when someone (you) dares to interrupt their slumber.
And of course that first week back to school is the worst of all. Spoiled by a summer of sleeping in, teens are anything but bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when that alarm clock goes off -- in fact, they might not even hear it! So how do we get them on their feet?
See, in my experience, conventional methods like buzzing clocks and gentle nudges (Time to get up, sweetie!) are completely useless. Not to mention counterproductive: By my eighth or ninth attempt, I'm so aggravated I end up resorting to the considerably less gentle approach (TIME TO GET UP! DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE GOING TO NEED A LATE PASS AND I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!). This is not what I would call getting the day started on the right foot, exactly.
Here are some tricks to try that really work (I promise!). Start with #1; if that doesn't do the job, go to #2 (and so on). #5 is your last resort. Good luck!
1. Bring iPod into your teen's room. Sneak earbuds on sleeping teen (one ear will do if she sleeps on her side). Find her least favorite song and hit "play."
2. Turn up the volume.
3. Sit down on the bed next to your sleeping teen and start bouncing up and down while singing along.
4. Say, loudly, "Hey, I think I'm going to take a video of this and put it up on Facebook so everyone can see!"
5. Remove earbuds from teen's ear(s) and put iPod away. Go to kitchen and bring back a glass of cold water. Dip fingers in water and flick drops in your teen's face. Repeat. (Only dump water over teen's head if you're absolutely desperate! You don't want to be bothered with putting pillowcases in the dryer before work.)
How do you get your teen up and out the door when it's time for back to school?
Image via Eryne/Flickr
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Comments 49
I sing very loudly. I have a horrible singing voice. I sing about what a wonderful moring it will be if I get to use the spray bottle. I really have a spray bottle, and I really do use it if I have to.
I have to try things like this with my husband sometimes :-p Ice water on the face usually works, or the old stand by fake-out: "Holy crap! We've overslept! We're LATE LATE LATE!" lol
I give him/her enough time to get up and going
great tips!
Um I just knock on my dd's door.
How about using a jackhammer?
LOL When my teenage niece is here in the morning, I just keep shaking her arm until she says something intelligent and decipherable.
It's called an alarm. Set it and expect them to wake up on time. They're teenagers and should be responsible for their own actions. Oh, they're late for school. That's their fault. These days it seems like there's no personal accountability.
get her to bed early real soon school starts next week