What’s the easiest way to wake up a teenager in the morning?

We had a rule in my house. You woke up with your alarm or mom would pour a glass of ice cold water on your head. I made it clear that they were plenty old enough to be responsible for themselves. I viewed it as “adulting” training. When they grew up, they could lose a job by not waking up on time.

My youngest son had a particular problem with waking up. We had more than one day where I’d warn him I was coming upstairs with the water and he wouldn’t enjoy it. Usually I just had to walk up a couple steps and he’d yell “All right! I’m up!” and I’d hear his feet hit the floor. Only once did I get all the way up to his room. I didn’t want to drown the kid, so I just sprinkled some water on his face. Boy did he get up fast! Lol. I asked him if he needed me to pour water on him and he was vehement that I didn’t need to do that.

After that we discussed things and I suggested that he put the alarm across the room and NOT sit down again. He grew up, moved out, got a job and got himself up for work on time.

See, I was married for a while to someone who never learned to wake himself up with the alarm. The alarm would go off and I’d have to poke and prod and practically push him out of bed. In the midst of all this, I was having babies and getting up at night to feed them (God forbid my husband would do anything). I put my foot down and said, “You’re a grown man. You are responsible for waking up with the alarm. I’m not doing it anymore.” And the next day he slept through the alarm and he eventually woke up and woke me up to yell at me that he was going to be late for work. I repeated that he was a grown man and I’d been up half the night with the baby.

So that’s why, when I the kids got older, I made sure that they could get themselves up for school. I told them it was practice for when they grew up and had to get to work on time. I told them getting to school was their current job.

I knew I wouldn’t be doing them any favors at all to be their human alarm clock. I figured any future spouse would be glad I put in the effort to teach them. I figured they eventually would realize why I did that. And if they didn’t and resented me for it, at least they were getting up and going to work on time.