Rise and Shine: Getting the Kids Back on Track to School

Rise and Shine: Getting the Kids Back on Track to School

Note: Even though we’re in the middle of summer vacation now, in a few weeks, it’s back-to-school time!

Introduction

As a parent, having the kids going back to school is the furthest thing from my mind, the time is ticking … It’s the Labor Day weekend. The last of the summer picnics are coming to a close. Still, the temperature is over a hundred degrees as any relief will occur in a few weeks when Fall makes its move. For kids everywhere, the last sounds of summer pools, the ice cream man driving through the neighborhood, and a time for handing out with friends all day long has come to an end. For Adults, you have to get the kids back on track, get them on a schedule, and have them refocus their efforts on school. If you ever worked with kids, you already know how hard it is to get them back on track. Some kids are a little bit easier than others, that is true. But there aren’t kids out there who don’t go through some sort of pain when the last summer night becomes the first school morning. It’s September 3rd and all through the house. Not a creature … wait a minute .. I don’t want to get sued for infringing on copyright!

Anyway, the date is September 3rd, the time is nine o’clock in the evening. After talking to the kids, I convinced them that they need to go to sleep early tonight. So, my wife and I are walking to each kids room, tucking them in, like we used to do when they were younger so they will go to sleep.

We start in our son’s room, “Hey Son. You got a big day tomorrow. I really want you to get some sleep.”

“Sure thing.”

“Ok. Have a good night.”

I turn out the lights, close the door, and hear my son get under the covers. Usually, things do not work out this way. Something must be going on, but I’m going to play around for now. Then, my wife and I go to our daughter’s room.

I say, “Hey, my daughter. It’s time for sleep. That means no electronics.”

She replies, “Ok.”, then turns off her tablet and puts it on the nightstand next to her bed.

My wife says, “Good night.”

My daughter replies, “Goodnight Mom.”

Then she turns off the light to daughter’s room We walk downstairs, proud parents, thinking that our kids are going to get some rest and prepare for the first day of school. My wife sits next to me on the couch. I try to turn on one of the premium cable channels. My wife takes the remote and puts on the damn Ballet Channel! Ballet! Damn it! Just once I would like to get the remote control and watch someone do something other than ballet! Soon, with the soft music and let’s face it, I’m old! I get comfortable on the couch and try to get some sleep. Little by little, I drift into a dream, and I start to smile, thinking it was going to be a good dream.

1:00 AM

I hear something upstairs, and I jump up. My wife looks at me and says, “Did you hear that?” I reply, “Damn right I did, where’s the bat?” My wife shouts out, “Hall closet!” I go to the hall closet, grab the bat, and walk upstairs. There is a small thumping going on … from my son’s room. I open the door, raise the bat, an I see … “Son,” I exclaim, “What the hell are you doing?” My son has half of his body out of the window and the other half in the house. But, now that he has heard my voice has decided to get back in the house. Knowing that he has been busted, he says, “Listen, Dad. It’s the end of summer, and I wanted to go outside one last time to feel the night air, look at the full moon, go see Vanessa. You know, before I have to be a student again and have responsibility.” I start clapping my hands, “Nice speech. No dice! Get your butt back to bed!” My son lays down, I lock the window, then walk over to his doorway and say, “Listen. I understand what you’re going through. But school starts tomorrow, and you gotta get some rest. See you tomorrow.” I close the door, I hear him tossing and turning and throw something on the floor, but at least he is in bed and going to get some sleep. I go down the stairs, put the bat back in the hall closet, and go back to the couch. My wife says, “Everything OK up there?” I reply, “Nope, but I took care of it.” I sit on the couch and, yet again, watch the Ballet Channel! I have to get that remote somehow and change the station. The one good thing about that channel is it puts me right to sleep.

3:00 AM

My wife wakes up and hears some laughter upstairs. She gets off of the couch and walks upstairs. The laughter is coming from my daughter’s room. My wife gets to the top of the steps, opens the door to my daughter’s room, and says, “There better not be any boys up here!”

My daughter, busted, with a tablet in hand.

My wife says, “Hand me the tablet!”

Daughter hands my wife the tablet.

My wife has a few more things today, “It’s three in the morning, and you got to get some sleep! In a few hours, you have to go back to school. What are you thinking?”

My daughter thinks for a good comeback but then accepts that she needs to get some sleep.

The daughter replies, “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

My wife smiles, with a tablet under her arm and says, “Sweet dreams.”

Then, closes the door.

The tablet winds up on the coffee table. My wife curls up next to me and goes to sleep.

6:00 AM

The alarm goes off on my phone, which wakes up my wife and I. I go upstairs to my son’s room and knock on my son’s door.

“Son.”, I say, “This is your Dad. It’s time to wake up.”

No response.

I say again, “C’mon. It’s time to wake up.”

Still no response.

I walk over to my son’s bed. Sure enough, he is passed out. I turn on the lights in his room, then there is some sort of response.

“Dad. Where am I?”

“You’re at home. It’s time to wake up and get to school. Or at least get some pants on. Damn!”

I walk out of the room, closing the door behind me and walk over to my daughter’s room.

I knock on the door, “Hey Daughter. It’s time to get up.”

No response.

I enter her room and … Her response was, “Dad don’t you <explicitave> knock!”

I close the door and head downstairs. My wife is sitting on the couch, “Did you get the kids up?” I reply, “Oh yeah. I got the kids up. It wasn’t easy. But, after all, it is the first day of school. The second day is only a day away.” With that, I sit next to my wife, grab the remote, and turn it to one of the premium cable channels. As she reaches to the remote to change the channel back, I open the battery cover, tap the remote in my hand, remove the batteries and put them on the coffee table and say, “After the morning I had. I need to watch something other than the Ballet Channel.”

My wife says, “That bad?”

I reply, “Yes. And this is just day one. I’m not looking forward to day two.”

Then, I get off to the couch, to the kitchen to start making lunches. My wife picks up the batteries from the coffee table, puts them back in the remote, turns on the Ballet Channel, takes the batteries out fo the remote and puts them in her pocket. That’s all for today.

Originally published at nickstockton.blogspot.com.