4 Ways We Wake the Kids Up in the Morning!

How many of you find it easy to wake up in the morning? Hands up!

Not many hands are up, I believe. Waking up early is one thing most people would rather NOT be doing.

Sadly, on a school day, most households (especially mums) are up and running at the break of dawn. Waking up the kids is a nightmare. 

I've had my share of 

• having a bright light being shone into my eyes or 
• having the fan being switched off (I hate that one!) or 
• having water being splashed onto my face!

I do remember, though, that the best morning wake-up call was when my mum would settle herself on the bed near my head and gently stroke my hair to wake me up. 

I dare say, each home has its own wake-up routine for different days. Here's how The Fairies are woken up every morning.

Show and Tell: Warm Hugs!

1. Warm Hugs

This is the most common morning wake-up routine we have, since it's the one we do on School Day Mornings. 

I walk into the room, switch on the dim lights (no bright lights in the eyes!), and then say coaxingly:

"Who's going to give mamma the first big hug this morning?"

Guess what?

Both my boys stumble out of bed and come crashing into me!!

Now, we have a rule: Once You're Up, You Head Straight to the Bathroom to Brush Your Teeth & etc. (there isn't any need to get too descriptive!) 

So, in less than two minutes The Fairies are up, have had nice, big, warm hugs, and then are off to begin getting ready for school! 

No grumpy faces and no loud voices in the morning - ta da! 

2. Sing-Song

Now there's a reason why I have titled this section 'sing-song' and not 'sing a song'. 

This sort of morning wake-up call happens on a Saturday or Holiday morning when The Husband is already up and about. (There's a reason why this little tidbit of information is mentioned. You will know in a bit.) 

This is where I make up an on-the-spot nonsense song with words that go like:

"Good morning, sons, it's morning, morning, MORNING!..." 

...and generally make things up as I go along. Sometimes The Husband joins in with his tenor voice, and we have the beginnings of a Broadway Muscial in our own home! And The Fairies wake up with a smile, and start joining in the musical with mumbled words in tune! 

It is such a fun way to wake them up. The whole family enjoys it, and the singing goes on for quite awhile!

3. A Roll in the Bed

Now, this is The Husband's holiday wake-up call for when he still isn't ready to start his day and simply wants to roll around with the boys. He goes and snuggles up between them, and they talk and tell each other stories, and generally have a lazy time getting out of bed.

I don't join them. It's complete boy-time. And once I'm up, I'm UP!!

4. The Emergency (a.k.a. Dark Morning)

This generally involves telling the Fairies in a loud, excited whisper: 

"Wake up, kids! Wake up! It's DARK MORNING!"

You should see the way those two just pop off their pillows like a jack-in-the-box, open their eyes wide saying "Where! Where!"while trying to look out of the window.

They both just love waking up when it's dark outside. It fascinates them to no end. But we wake them this early only when it is absolutely necessary. 

It's amazing how something so simple as waking up in the morning can be such a delight!

The Key: Lots of SHOWING of warmth and love make for a good start to the day.

Signing out until the next post,

That Creature