Good Morning
My two boys are incredibly different, as siblings often are.
Ryan wakes up most mornings around 5:30AM. He is immediately away, shot out of bed like a cannon. He likes to snuggle sometimes, but other days he'll get up on his own, get dressed, and brush his teeth all without supervision. He's my morning buddy, and we often eat breakfast together, just the two of us and Sydney. He'll even help me make the coffee, or get his own breakfast started (fruit, yogurt, etc.).
Colin is a different story. That kid takes sleeping like a log to a whole 'nother level. I have literally turned on all the lights, played LOUD music, and sat him up in bed flopping his arms around like a marionette. He soundly slept through it all. Not even a flinch or twitch to show that he was aware that anyone else existed in the universe. When he does finally wake up he is typically cranky, and that's on his nice days. He scowls, is angry with the whole family (except Sydney), and isn't afraid to show it. Any clothing he puts on is stupid, doesn't fit right, and isn't comfy. He doesn't want to eat anything either, although I know that some of the whole Miserable Marvin act is related to low blood sugar and if I can just get something in him it often ebbs. He still isn't typically pleasant to be around, but at least it gets the beast somewhat under control.
Today Hari was out of town on a business trip, and I needed to get Colin out of bed without the usual drama. We needed to walk the dog before breakfast so I could log in and start work before dropping everyone off at school.
I tried turning the lights on to see if the whole natural circadian thing was going to work. (HA)
I tried gently touching his face and calling his name. No reaction.
I tried sitting him up and talking to him. Still nothing.
I flopped him around until there was a small sign of consciousness, and explained that he needed to get up. I got a level of crabbiness that makes the Grinch look like Mother Theresa. Ryan joined me and gave Colin a few kisses - Colin took a flailing swing in his direction, and that was the end of it.
I told Ryan to go downstairs and start breakfast and a video on the iPad and gave Colin one last chance. Get up now while I'm still being a nice mommy, otherwise he'll have to deal with what he gets. He growled at me and rolled back over.
So I went downstairs...
Opened the freezer...
Took out a soft gel ice pack...
Went back upstairs...
And put it down the back of his pajamas.
He was wearing a one-piece flannel pajama set, so the second he felt it on his back he sat up and it slide down to his bottom. His reaction was somewhere between a seizure and a jig as he flailed wildly trying to get his pajamas unzipped and extract the ice pack.
I'm going to edit here for the sake of a G-rating and let's just say that he was pretty unhappy with me. And may have thrown the ice pack across the room in my general direction. While I laughed and laughed.
Then he tried to go back to sleep.
And got a second round of the ice pack. This time, I held it on his back. Then applied it to his neck, and hands, and face, and feet... laughing all the while. "Are you going to get up now? How about now? Now? Now? What about now???" He was trying so hard to be mad at me, and at first he had a serious scowl going but the poor kid ended up laughing along with me in spite of himself. At that point I knew I had him. He was up, managed to get dressed, and the rest of the morning went quite well.
Word to the wise... never, EVER underestimate what a motivated mama will do.
Ryan wakes up most mornings around 5:30AM. He is immediately away, shot out of bed like a cannon. He likes to snuggle sometimes, but other days he'll get up on his own, get dressed, and brush his teeth all without supervision. He's my morning buddy, and we often eat breakfast together, just the two of us and Sydney. He'll even help me make the coffee, or get his own breakfast started (fruit, yogurt, etc.).
Colin is a different story. That kid takes sleeping like a log to a whole 'nother level. I have literally turned on all the lights, played LOUD music, and sat him up in bed flopping his arms around like a marionette. He soundly slept through it all. Not even a flinch or twitch to show that he was aware that anyone else existed in the universe. When he does finally wake up he is typically cranky, and that's on his nice days. He scowls, is angry with the whole family (except Sydney), and isn't afraid to show it. Any clothing he puts on is stupid, doesn't fit right, and isn't comfy. He doesn't want to eat anything either, although I know that some of the whole Miserable Marvin act is related to low blood sugar and if I can just get something in him it often ebbs. He still isn't typically pleasant to be around, but at least it gets the beast somewhat under control.
Today Hari was out of town on a business trip, and I needed to get Colin out of bed without the usual drama. We needed to walk the dog before breakfast so I could log in and start work before dropping everyone off at school.
I tried turning the lights on to see if the whole natural circadian thing was going to work. (HA)
I tried gently touching his face and calling his name. No reaction.
I tried sitting him up and talking to him. Still nothing.
I flopped him around until there was a small sign of consciousness, and explained that he needed to get up. I got a level of crabbiness that makes the Grinch look like Mother Theresa. Ryan joined me and gave Colin a few kisses - Colin took a flailing swing in his direction, and that was the end of it.
I told Ryan to go downstairs and start breakfast and a video on the iPad and gave Colin one last chance. Get up now while I'm still being a nice mommy, otherwise he'll have to deal with what he gets. He growled at me and rolled back over.
So I went downstairs...
Opened the freezer...
Took out a soft gel ice pack...
Went back upstairs...
And put it down the back of his pajamas.
He was wearing a one-piece flannel pajama set, so the second he felt it on his back he sat up and it slide down to his bottom. His reaction was somewhere between a seizure and a jig as he flailed wildly trying to get his pajamas unzipped and extract the ice pack.
I'm going to edit here for the sake of a G-rating and let's just say that he was pretty unhappy with me. And may have thrown the ice pack across the room in my general direction. While I laughed and laughed.
Then he tried to go back to sleep.
And got a second round of the ice pack. This time, I held it on his back. Then applied it to his neck, and hands, and face, and feet... laughing all the while. "Are you going to get up now? How about now? Now? Now? What about now???" He was trying so hard to be mad at me, and at first he had a serious scowl going but the poor kid ended up laughing along with me in spite of himself. At that point I knew I had him. He was up, managed to get dressed, and the rest of the morning went quite well.
Word to the wise... never, EVER underestimate what a motivated mama will do.
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