It's 10AM. Where Are Those Twins?

Every weekday morning (i.e. school day morning) the children are supposed to be dressed, to have their beds made, and to be downstairs by 10AM. Yes, that's right. 10AM. Not 9AM. Not 8AM and certainly not 7:30AM or earlier like public school children would need to be to make it to school on time. Our little pampered ones get to sleep in because sleep is very important for brain development. Also, they go to bed much later than most children their age. They like to spend time with their father in the evenings. Consequently they don't have to get their act together until 10AM.

So, are they dressed and downstairs at 10AM? B-boy has usually been up and dressed for two or more hours and is downstairs reading. The twins are another story. Jake is usually awake by 9AM, but he's not focused on dressing and getting downstairs. He likes to lounge in his bed. Viva needs a wakeup call or she'll sleep an hour or two past 10AM. We've tried a number of approaches. Waking Viva up and telling both her and Jake to get dressed isn't enough. I have had to purchase a timer that I take in their room every morning and set on the dresser. They get 10 minutes to do their morning upstairs routine. Viva and Jake easily complete it in 5-7 minutes. If they have a timer. Without a timer they lose focus and run through the halls in their underwear and do who knows what else. I am busy downstairs with Lincoln, who like his older brother, is an early (for this household!) riser.

Today I did not take the timer upstairs. I was playing a new game with Bentley and waiting for the twins to just magically appear. They were up, I could hear them. At 10:40AM they had not yet come down. I had to call upstairs and tell them to get their act together. I asked them what time they were supposed to be downstairs. Viva thought 11 or 9:30. Even digital clocks are meaningless to these five year olds.

That's the bottom line. They are five years old. They have other concerns on their mind then getting dressed. They prefer to spend some quality bonding time together in the mornings rather than do routine chores. That's a laudable goal, but it doesn't work well with a school schedule, even one as lax as we have. We aren't strict about exactly when we start reading and math each day, but we are strict that we do it every day. It's easier if we do it early, hence the 10AM goal that I let the children ignore this morning. It was a test. They failed, so it's back to the timer.

Patience. Patience is a virtue. It's a virtue most of us could use a lot more of. I know I've increased my capacity ten-fold since gaining four young grandchildren.