What age did you stop getting up with your kids in the morning for school?

[Zandy595]

I didn't answer the poll because it doesn't apply.

DS13 is sooo not a morning person. He's just like his father, no matter how loud his alarm is he sleeps right through it. So, I have to get him up in the morning or he would never make it to school. I don't mind getting up though because he doesn't need to be up until 7:30. Sometimes I make him a hot breakfast and sometimes he has cold cereal.

I can't imagine not getting up with him in the morning. I'm home and I'd be up by that time anyway even if I didn't have to get him up. I didn't like that my mom wasn't there in the morning when DB and I got ready for school. I'm very happy that I have the opportunity to do it for DS.

 

[MichelleVW]

DS13 is sooo not a morning person. He's just like his father, no matter how loud his alarm is he sleeps right through it. So, I have to get him up in the morning or he would never make it to school. I don't mind getting up though because he doesn't need to be up until 7:30. Sometimes I make him a hot breakfast and sometimes he has cold cereal.

So what happens when he is in college and you're not there to wake him up? If you want to get up with him that's fine, but there is no reason that a teenager can't get up to an alarm.

I'm not picking on you, I am asking everyone that says that their kids "won't get up to an alarm".

 

[gina2000]

omg...my kids would kill me if I woke them up like that!



I can't imagine how annoying it would have been for my mom to be up with me in the morning as a teenager. I'm far from a teenager myself and I still don't like to be around other humans for about an hour after I wake up!!

My kids feel the same way...but every family has to do what works for them.

I just wonder about all the high school kids that can't get themselves up with the alarm. What are they going to do in college when Mommy isn't there to holler 20 times for them to get up? My mom didn't wake us up in high school and if we didn't hear our alarm we suffered the consequences of being late.

I doubt it's annoying to DS. I head downstairs to bicycle while he showers and has breakfast. He then pokes his head through the door and says goodbye. Even if I'm not bicycling, I'm doing my own thing. We only talk about necessary subjects.

I did fine getting up at college. I had 8am classes five days a week my freshman year and 3 days a week my sophomore year. Mommy didn't wake me up. (Nice dig, btw.)

Suffering consequences is a relative thing. We're pretty proactive around here and we don't like to experience consequences as a rule....and that's all of us. So we avoid the situations that may cause unpleasant consequences. I'm sure DS could wake himself up if he needed to....but getting up at 4am 3x a week for swim practice is a bit difficult for any mortal. Plus he has to be driven. So Daddy gets him up and drives him. And mommy wakes him up the other two days.

 

[Nancy]

My youngest is a junior in high school. I don't get up with her but I am up getting ready for work myself. So, I'm up at7:00, yell into her room to make sure she is up...she takes care of her food and makes her morning coffee. Then I drop her off at school on my way into work. I probably stopped getting up and making breakfast and lunches when they were in 4th or 5th grade. I was up, but they did their own stuff. I gave them money each week to buy lunch at school so if they wanted to take a lunch they made their own. By 4th or5th grade they were able to fix cereal, toast, bagels etc. by themselves.


And now if I have a day off I will stay in bed until it's time for her to leave. I still drive her in but I don't get up earlier than I need to.

 

[SydSim]

Thanks for chiming in...I wonder if others like us are avoiding replying.
)

It's unfortunate that people can't state what they do in fear of what others will say or think about them. I truly can't understand why people don't accept the fact that others do things differently - and it's still OK!

I started this question because I didn't realize that others did things differently, until I spoke with my BFF. After that, I was curious to find out what the rest of the world does.

Why can't "My kids get up and out of the house while I'm still in bed" or "I get up with my kids cause we all like that" both be ok?!

Personally, it makes me sad thinking that my DD-13 is sitting alone in the kitchen eating her breakfast when it's dark outside. She smiles when I come into the kitchen with her. If she groaned and didn't talk to me while I was there, I would probably think and do a totally different thing
My dd is an only child and acts as if she isn't weaned yet, sometimes
So, that's probably what fuels our behavior.

 

[a1tinkfans]

In my house we ALL get up within 10 minutes of each other. While the DH and DS both get ready (soph in HS) I usually get lunch together and breakfast ready for the ds..
IF the dh has time, we all sit a moment and off they go.......

And I guess for some of you...to add insult to injury We also eat together for dinner each night.(barring other plans out for any one/all of us) ..its just how I grew up and I continue it with my own family. It may not always be a full dinner, but whether its pizza or a big italian meal, ...we take the time to blab about whats going on in our day to day lives...... and YES, I am home each day when the ds comes home...well, I work from home, so thats just the way it is.......................and probably why the rest of the kids come here...there's always snacks and such
He'll be off to college soon enough and we'll have an awfully quiet house, and I am actually in no hurry for that.......

 

[JVL1018]

I knew there was something wrong with me. Thanks for pointing it out. I don't even HEAR dd16 leave at 6:19...dh is up getting for work at the same time as her, though.

The 7/9/11yo's get up and get ready, and chill a bit. Then they leave. On the days I don't get up, sometimes they need help with something and come in to my room. They seem to be enjoying this newfound freedom *which isn't a daily or even weekly occurrence*.

I am not going to justify, I started more of an explanation, but WHY. I am not judging the people that I think are doing too much for too long, I think those morning moments must be special for them. For us, with our afternoon/evening schedule putting us all together every day at 3pm (4pm for 11yo), we don't NEED the morning minutes to connect.

ETA: My kids have something to add. They like how we do it. Mostly I am up but let them move about independently, sometimes (Mostly while sick) I sleep right through, wake up and they have done what they always do - get up, get ready, and go to school.

DD16: "I don't want company that early in the morning."
DS9: "I don't care cuz I'm not stupid. I watch SportCenter."
DD7: "I have nothing to add." ....and gave me a smile and a big hug.
DD11: laughing, and has nothing to add either.

Not sure why you quoted me, I never said anything about your routine, I didn't even read your earlier posts. Nor did I say anyone was wrong.

My daughter(9) is up, showered and dressed and watching TV before I even wake up, my son(8) is sometimes up, maybe already showered if my husband tells him to by the time I get up.

Regardless of stupidity independence or spending time together, I need to get up to take them to school-no busses here, not for any grade. We leave at 8:30 if we walk, 8:35 if I drive, school starts at 8:45.
It's not a great hardship, no one is waking up at dawn.

 

[mjkacmom]

If she groaned and didn't talk to me while I was there, I would probably think and do a totally different thing
My dd is an only child and acts as if she isn't weaned yet, sometimes
So, that's probably what fuels our behavior.

LOL - dd13 is FAR from an only child, and would grunt at me! She makes her breakfast (usually eggs) and makes her lunch (no clue). I sometimes have to wake the others (they need to be up by 7:30, so they're usually awake), but they are in charge of picking out their own clothes, getting dressed, and getting downstairs. I usually pour them some cereal, and make their lunches if they're not buying (they usually buy). Ds11 walks to school with his friends early (he's a patrol), and I walk the others. If it wasn't for ds6, I'd let dd6 and dd8 walk without me, but he's not to be trusted.

 

[JVL1018]

I can't imagine how annoying it would have been for my mom to be up with me in the morning as a teenager. I'm far from a teenager myself and I still don't like to be around other humans for about an hour after I wake up!!

.

I was that way as a teenager..just because my mom was awake, didn't mean we spoke. LOL
I am not a morning person now either. I drag my butt out of bed every morning wishing for another hour of sleep(and I don't get up until a little after 8), but no one is sitting around chitchatting. I am getting a couple of things done, the kids watch Spongebob and then we leave.
Just because we're all awake together doesn;t mean we are speaking. Some morning the only thing i may say before we leave the house is: get your shoes on it's time to go.
This morning DD and I had to get up at 6:30 because she had a cheering competition to go to. That was painful, and if the kids had to wake up that early, I'd still feel like it was weird to not be up with them, but I'd learn to live with it.

 

[Zandy595]

So what happens when he is in college and you're not there to wake him up? If you want to get up with him that's fine, but there is no reason that a teenager can't get up to an alarm.

I'm not picking on you, I am asking everyone that says that their kids "won't get up to an alarm".

I totally understand where you're coming from. This wasn't always the case. DS used to get up when his alarm went off. It's just been within the last two years that he hasn't been waking up to it. I don't have a clue what to do about it. He has it up as high as it will go and he still sleeps through it. Like I said, DH is the same way. One time the security alarm went off and DH slept through the whole thing. Anyone who has a security alarm knows how loud they are.

I get up with DS because I want to, but believe me, I don't enjoy waking him up. I don't see any other way.

If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them.

 

[MichelleVW]

I doubt it's annoying to DS. I head downstairs to bicycle while he showers and has breakfast. He then pokes his head through the door and says goodbye. Even if I'm not bicycling, I'm doing my own thing. We only talk about necessary subjects.

I did fine getting up at college. I had 8am classes five days a week my freshman year and 3 days a week my sophomore year. Mommy didn't wake me up. (Nice dig, btw.)

Suffering consequences is a relative thing. We're pretty proactive around here and we don't like to experience consequences as a rule....and that's all of us. So we avoid the situations that may cause unpleasant consequences. I'm sure DS could wake himself up if he needed to....but getting up at 4am 3x a week for swim practice is a bit difficult for any mortal. Plus he has to be driven. So Daddy gets him up and drives him. And mommy wakes him up the other two days.

It's not a dig BTW....

I asked my 16 year old if she wanted me to get up with her in the morning when she was getting ready for school and she looked at me like I was insane.. So whatever works for your family is great for you!

I totally understand where you're coming from. This wasn't always the case. DS used to get up when his alarm went off. It's just been within the last two years that he hasn't been waking up to it. I don't have a clue what to do about it. He has it up as high as it will go and he still sleeps through it. Like I said, DH is the same way. One time the security alarm went off and DH slept through the whole thing. Anyone who has a security alarm knows how loud they are.

I get up with DS because I want to, but believe me, I don't enjoy waking him up. I don't see any other way.

If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Has he tried the alarm clock across the room? That's what my mom's SO has to do....because if not he sleeps through it.

 

[shortbun]

My mother was not particularly attentive as a parent but she drug herself out of bed every morning to see me and my siblings off to school. This winter, I'll be driving my bus and DH will be doing an observation in preparation for student teaching in the fall so DS will be on his own at age 14. We live 1/2 block from his school and I'll be able to call him every morning to make sure he's up when I'm waiting to begin with my elementary pickup.
Next year when he's in high school, he'll be on his own while DH student teaches. The year after that, DH will be teaching and I will be retired and getting up with DS as he goes to school. The time alone for him makes me nervous but 'that which does not kill you only makes you stronger', right?

 

[denisenh]

i get up and make breakfast for my kids even though they are teens. they get themselves up though, usually before i get up. on the very rare days that i don't make the kids breakfast, dh does.
we generally have supper together as well...but usually late and 50% of the time its takeout since i started working full time.

 

[Zandy595]

Has he tried the alarm clock across the room? That's what my mom's SO has to do....because if not he sleeps through it.

It's not that he turns the alarm off and goes back to sleep, the alarm literally does not wake him up at all. When I go in his room to get him up his alarm is blasting and he's sound asleep, dead to the world.

 

[Nancy]

I have a 10 month old, so I can't contribute to the thread, but after reading a few replies I have a question. Why do kids have to get up so early to go to school? 5:30!! Is this normal?

It all depends on start time and busing. Around here the high school and middle school start at 8:10 am (homeroom time) and the elementary school is 9:05. Makes for later morning starts and the buses don't have far to go. My kids took the bus to elementary and got picked up 15 minutes before start time and we were in the middle of the route. Middle and high is walking for us...about a 15-20 minute walk depending on which school. I chose to drive them since I started work right around the same time and it is not out of my way. So my kids slept until 7:00 and we would leave the house no later than 7:55....elementary kids didn't get up till almost 8:00am....I worked nights so sleeping in was great.

Can't imagine not being up. My mom did it for us and I do it for our son. I just think it's lonely to get up by yourself and get yourself out the door when you're a teenager.

By highschool my mom was not getting up with me...I was not lonely at all. I got up, ate, got ready and left...it was quick with no one else up and getting in my way (only 1 bathroom). Once I got up, left and I was waiting at the bus stop and no one else was showing up, I waited around for a bit and then went home...let myself in the house and realized I got up way earlier than I needed to and left for school almost an hour early...my parents didn't even know I was gone and came back.

omg...my kids would kill me if I woke them up like that!



I can't imagine how annoying it would have been for my mom to be up with me in the morning as a teenager. I'm far from a teenager myself and I still don't like to be around other humans for about an hour after I wake up!!

My kids feel the same way...but every family has to do what works for them.

I just wonder about all the high school kids that can't get themselves up with the alarm. What are they going to do in college when Mommy isn't there to holler 20 times for them to get up? My mom didn't wake us up in high school and if we didn't hear our alarm we suffered the consequences of being late.

Maybe they will be like my DH...he is 51 and still has to be woken up. He lived at home while in college and his mom or dad woke him up every day. Now he just sleeps through he alarm and I have to yell his name a few times o get him up...and if I don't he will fall back asleep. If I am out of town and he is home, I get up every morning and all him...he wakes up with the phone but not an alarm. I think it is so ingrained in him that someone else is responsible for waking him up that he just ignores it an alarm.


By the time we got married he was already set in his ways and at 27 there was no getting around this. I have tried...so now I set the alarm for 5:45 am...make sure he is up by 6:00 and then I set the alarm for 7:00 and go back to sleep.

 

[monkey68]

I'm 24, just moved back home, I get up at 4:30 am, out the door by 5 am, and my mom still gets up in the morning to see me off. Then goes back to sleep for another hour. She doesn't make me breakfast, and there's no need for her to approve of my outfit. I wear scrubs every day, there's nothing to approve of. I've told her repeatedly that she doesn't need to get up adn see me off, but she just does it, she claims it's bred into her now, even though this is my first time living at home for about 6 years.

 

[stacy347]

I just wonder about all the high school kids that can't get themselves up with the alarm. What are they going to do in college when Mommy isn't there to holler 20 times for them to get up? My mom didn't wake us up in high school and if we didn't hear our alarm we suffered the consequences of being late.

Bolding is mine ~ I honestly don't get why so many people on this board feel the need to be derogatory.
I'm one of the moms who posted that my DD16 sleeps through every alarm we've tried. This is actually not a very uncommon problem in teens at all as most are technically sleep deprived. The average teen needs 1 to 2 hours more sleep per night than younger kids and yet they get significantly less. My DD averages 6 hours of sleep per night, max. This is not because she is goofing off ~ this is because the poor kid is working her butt off taking AP classes and classes that the school has partnered with local medical facilities to offer. She has her heart set on being a doctor and she is willing to do the work so if all I have to do during this time is get her up because she sleeps through an alarm, then I am all for it.

Now, there will soon come a time when her body won't require as much sleep and she will get up easier on her own so no, I don't think Mommy will follow her to college to wake her up each morning. While she's here though, I'm more than happy to help her.

As for the parents who choose not to get up with their kids, I have nothing bad to say because I assume it must work for them or I'm sure they would do it differently.

Here's a good article I found when I was looking for reasons teens sleep through alarms, if anyone is interested:
http://www.smmc.com/services/sleep-disorders-center/teens-and-sleep/

 

[taximomfor4]

http://www.smmc.com/services/sleep-disorders-center/teens-and-sleep/[/url]

I must agree that teens tend to be quite sleep deprived. Probably why dd16 sleeps through her alarm too...although she is so attached to her cell phone that setting it as a secondary alarm 10 minutes later has gotten her up all but once so far this year.

Anyone with the alarm problem, if you are looking for a solution, try the kids using their cell phone alarm! It might work for them, too!!