Wake-Up Ideas

In our first installment of “Back to School Prep” here are your creative ideas for “How to drag those half-asleep kiddos out of bed in a fun—yet effective—way.”

Pancakes and Land Sharks
From Kathy
I get up early (and motivate the kids to wake up early) and make them pancakes. It doesn’t have to be the difficult recipe Aunt Martha made with egg whites and berries—just batter and a skillet and a big, messy ladle. And lots of syrup (allow plenty of clean-up time following the meal).
For kids under 12, I yell “LAND SHARK,” and hurl myself onto them in bed. This also works when Dad or older siblings do it. Allow 2 minutes for fun and frolic.

Rise and Shine with Juice
From Nichole
My mom used to wake my sister and me up by singing “Rise and Shine.” And we would then join in. You know, “Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory…”
Small children’s blood sugar is low in the morning since they have not eaten in so long. A bit of apple juice first thing makes them more cheerful real quick.

The Night Before
From Jessica
The best advice for getting a kid out of bed is putting them to sleep at the proper time!

Reading My Girls Awake
From Rebecca
I noticed that it was taking a lot of prompting to get some of my daughters out of bed and that I was tempted to anxiousness and anger. At the same time, I desired some read aloud time with them that I just couldn’t seem to fit in. So I decided to read my girls awake in the morning. Of course, my routine had to change to accommodate the extra time, but it was time well spent. We all benefited from starting the day off in this way. It built our relationship as we laughed and cried together over the various stories.

Wake-Up First
From Kim
My only advice would be to make sure you are WIDE awake before making the attempt.

For Middle-School Boys
From Mandy
My step-son is twelve years old and in the 7th grade this year. He is soooo hard to wake up in the mornings. It could take about thirty minutes to get him out of bed. So, instead of us all getting frustrated, I bought him his own alarm clock. We placed it across the room so he has to get out of bed to turn it off. He can hit the snooze button one time and get back in bed, but at the next one, he’s got to get up and get in the shower. We got one of the beeping ones and had to set it to the loudest setting! He’s only slept through it once!

Coffee in Bed?
From Karen J. Low
My mom would bring me coffee in bed. Most moms now probably don’t want to get their kids hooked on coffee, but perhaps a small glass of water or OJ would work just as well.

It’s All About the “Why”
From Karen
Talking to my children about the importance of getting to bed on time makes it much easier to get them up in the morning. As moms, part of our “training” of our children must include the wonderful reasons “why” we are getting up early…to have our quiet time, to start our day with the Lord, to get in the habit of “rejoicing for this is the day that the Lord has made.” All of these wonderful things can’t happen unless we are learning the discipline of getting to bed on time.

A Wake-Up Tune
From Audrey
My mom and dad would whistle a tune at the foot of our stairs; it was nice to wake up to their whistle every morning and we never slept through it.