Caroline has always been an early riser. I can’t tell you how many days we have been up and ‘at ’em before sunrise or as Caroline says when it’s “still darken outside”. Really, I blame her father. Sadly, he too is an early riser. It’s all about genetics.
I heard Tina Fey on The Tonight Show the other night talking about her new baby and she said that the worst feeling in the world is being up for the day and realizing that The Today Show isn’t even on yet. I feel her pain.
This summer Caroline has started going to bed a little later, so I hoped that would translate into a little sleep in time for Mom. You know, like maybe 7:00 a.m. But oh no, she is still up before the crack of dawn.
So last night in a fit of parenting expertise and brilliance, I put an alarm clock in her room with huge digital numbers. I also took a sheet of paper, taped it to her lamp and wrote 7:00.
I showed it to her and told her that in the morning when the clock looked like the piece of paper, she could call me and I would come get her. I was truly inspired by my own brilliance and I stayed up late last night just relishing the thought of sleeping in until 7:00 (that’s a sad commentary on my life).
At 6:03 a.m. I hear “Mama, come get me, Mama, come get me”. I gave her a few minutes thinking that my plan might work, but finally realized she wasn’t giving up. I walked into her room and discovered the fatal flaw to my plan.
When it’s still dark outside, you can’t see a sign above the clock in your room that says 7:00. Feel free to submit this idea to all the best parenting magazines.