Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
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Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
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If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evoloving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
No! The spray bottle did NOT work. Any suggestions on how to wake a 9 year old who wants to stay up all night and not get out of bed on a school morning?
As a kid who was also a notorious oversleeper, it's because your child isn't motivated. I would take time to figure out why that is, and learn how to motivate them. Spraying them with a bottle or banging a saucepan is just gonna make everyone tense
Had a talk with his Mother when she got home. She is going to start waking him up when she goes out the door at 4:15AM and make him take a shower. Then we will see what happens. If not, he will be getting out of bed at 2 AM when she wakens and kept awake until the bus arrives.
I think that's a pretty terrible idea, tbh. I can tell you right now, that's only going to make things more combative. You don't want to start a war with your child
We've tried everything else. We will eventually find something that works.
Don’t let them stay up all night. Take away their devices. The problem is not waking them up, the problem is, you’re allowing them to stay up all night. It’s clearly the adults fault.
When my son is home, he shuts them off from all devices on school nights. But when he is gone every 2 weeks for his 2 week stint in the oil fields, his wife lets them do what they want as she gets up at 2 AM and is tired after getting home at around 4 PM. She is not awake to see what they are doing. I do NOT live with them. I live 3 miles down the road and come in to babysit everyday. So it is not my fault.
Wow. It sounds like a difficult situation. If the mother is absent, and cannot take proper care of them, that's the real issue I think. (Saying so probably doesn't help, but...)
Pure cause and effect. If the cause is that there is no proper supervision when it's necessary (aka 6pm onwards until bedtime), then no amount of rear end solutions (waking, doing x or whatever) will have any lasting effect, imo.
That might sound harsh, but that's the reality.
I think that rooftops suggestion is likely one of the best. A reading time before bed yields so many benefits. Greater connectedness, better sleep for the child, fostering a love of books and reading, etc. In this case, better sleeping hours and more normal sleep / wake patterns.
If the mother is not available, is there an older sibling, who could read? Are there a number of them?
Removal of the devices past 8pm or so is an absolutely necessary move, but we don't really know enough about the circumstances there to know how that might be achieved.
Take courage as you fight on! Prayer will be a good starting point.
Thank you for your suggestion. There is NO HOPE for the removal of the electronics unless my son is home. But once he's gone for 2 weeks, she simply gives them back to them. I counted the electronics the other day, there are 5 Tablets, 4 Laptops, 4 handheld Nintendoes, 2 X Boxes with TV's, and 1 Play Station. My son has the Internet on an App on his phone where he can shut it all down. So I called him and told him he needs to shut it all off at at least 8 PM EVERY NIGHT. This will probably cause a squabble between me and the mother, but hey! someone has got to say something.
I didn’t say it’s your fault. I said it’s the adults fault. If that happens to be the mother - then it’s her fault! Perhaps you could make a suggestion to her or your son or both?
Yes and I'm sorry that that came out that way. It has been a very trying day and I aim to give her all the suggestions every passed my way. Truly I am sorry. I also bit someone elses head off on here that I didn't mean too. So please forgive me as I do need a break from the monotony of it all.
you could use some type of visual sticker chart that appeals to 'his' interests. make it big & the stickers motivating/get a timer & break the chart into chunks of the day that would be manageable- morning, afternoon, evening-closer increments depending on behavior level.
then when he has a positive period of time, he gets a sticker. so many stickers & he can 'buy' rewards. also start helping him make a list of positive rewards & 'why' that is the best choice, so he's not just picking crap. also remind him that many people struggle to make such products for low wages, so be mindful of their time & energy.
Thank you much friend. I will suggest this to his mother.
Cake for breakfast.
I am not lying.
Cake for breakfast got me out of bed ASAP
Bake a delicious birthday cake, chocolate cake, his favorite cake, without him knowing
and tell him there is cake for breakfast, he won't believe you the first time then when he gets to the table (mind blown)
Pizza for breakfast is also an option
I am trying to take the whimsical, sweet route by the way. I am sure there are other methods but my thing is...
I didn't have a tablet as a child (they didn't exist) I would still stay up in bed wondering what super hero would beat who or thinking about pretty girls. So even without screens, when kids want to stay up, they will stay up.
So true. But the Cake won't matter, neither will the pizza. They basically live on the stuff.
Right. Sugar is very bad especially for kids with ADHD.
Do you think Mighty Mouse could beat up Superman? I saw the other day, he was carrying five elephants in one hand!
As others have said, after bedtime the tablet needs to be forbidden.
Blue light keeps you awake, internet / games / social media keep the dopamine flowing. Makes it impossible to fall asleep naturally.
Without adequate sleep, really can't blame the child for not wanting to get up.
Right. That's why I asked his Mother to start waking him at 2 or 2:30 AM when she gets up and DON"T let him lay back down. She said she will wake him at 4:15AM when she leaves for work and make him start taking a shower every morning. She said he would fall asleep in the tub, so that is out. This way it should wake him up and make him alert. PLUS. she will be waking him up and not ME.
That is what we are wanting to do. Get him up early and tire him out quite a bit for a couple of days until we can get his body adjusted to where he is completely tired out, body and mind and he can sleep. The bus here runs at 6 AM sharp and it is still dark outside and with a bus driver who has to run 2 afternoon routes due to a bus driver shortage, sometimes they don't get home until 4 PM. So we HAVE to adjust his sleep to help him get on the Bus schedule. We are not doing it for cruelty. We are simply trying to help him adjust. After about 2 days of getting up at 2 AM then we can do 3 AM and then 4 Am and then get back to our regular 5 AM schedule. We were going to do this in increments to help his internal circadian rhythms ( that is if his is working at this time.)
Remove the bedding and drag him out of bed by his feet? Bang a spoon on a saucepan?
Firm handling is definitely needed. If this is a regular occurrence, maybe a mild herbal sleep aid would help to re-set his circadian rhythm.
That is what my parents did with me. Lol.
My son has done that and so has Papaw. My son has went as far as going to the garage and getting the leaf blower and turning it on him. This however wakes up my 2 year old granddaughter which is too early for her to get up. His mother is going to try other options after I talked to her today. I threatened to QUIT and let her and my son find a new sitter.
My mom did these things to me.
All it did was cause more yelling and screaming in the morning tbh bc my sisters would wake up too