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Confessions of an Exhausted Mom: I Wake Up My Daughter for School

Does anyone else wake their teenager up every school morning because otherwise they would sleep through their alarm?

My daughter either pushes the snooze button just a few too many times, or she wakes up too early and unconsciously shuts off the alarm. Or sometimes she has insomnia, unable to fall asleep until late, then does not hear her alarm. Maybe she even worries when she sees how late it is when she finally finishes her homework (Usually–past midnight, but that’s because of the time she spends on social while she is doing her homework!) and makes it that much harder to fall asleep.

She comes by these habits naturally, as we are both night owls. However, I’m the sucker who wakes up to an alarm blaring at 6:15 a.m. just so that I can drag my 51-year-old tired butt out of bed, get dressed and put a waffle in the toaster.

OK, my behavior gets worse.

I not only wake up my daughter but also I bring her breakfast in bed.

And then after that, I need to go back in her room a few minutes later just to make sure she has actually stayed awake enough to eat it. And then after that I have to make sure she doesn’t fall back to sleep after eating the waffle.

Maybe I can blame some of my actions on the fact that high schools start way too early in the day for teenagers. Her body and her schedule are simply not in sync so I do understand why she’s an waking up drop out. I rationalize to myself by saying that she’s also a junior, so I won’t have to do this much longer.

But I’m just wondering…how on earth is this girl going to survive in college? I think I know the answer, though. She’ll take after me and never sign up for any class that starts before noon!

Valerie Newman lives in Connecticut with her husband and two kids. When Valerie started mixing up her kid’s college applications with her mother’s nursing home applications, she knew she was part of the sandwich generation.

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