Luckily, Anna Jane's school schedule is not too brutal. Check-in time is 8:30-8:50am. After searching on-line and one unsuccessful attempt--the coveted "Hello, Kitty!" alarm clock was procured! It is not ordinary alarm clock--it has: am/fm, CD, wake to music or buzzer (more on that in a minute) and the mandatory snooze function.
Anna Jane quickly programmed it for a lovely classical station, which would ultimately be her downfall...
The first few days of school, I think Anna Jane popped out of bed and into her clothes in record time. As the days and weeks have progressed...the newness of kindergarten has worn off. I would get up, shower and dress and listen for her footsteps upstairs. It became clear that she takes after her Mama in many ways; including having the ability to sleep through her alarm. This alarm is LOUD. When she goes to bed at night, she likes the "sleep to music" feature. Otis and I can hear her music downstairs. This is the same volume that is used to wake her, well that is supposed to wake her. After several mornings of having to rouse her from under the covers, we finally had to have a "heart to heart" talk. I told her that if she didn't wake to the music, perhaps the BUZZER function would have to be set instead. She became very upset by this idea. I couldn't figure out why she was so hysterical about losing the music. Finally, after letting her calm down, we delved into why she was crying. She said, "Mama, no one told me that the music was my alarm. I hear it and wake up, but I just add it to my dream and go back to sleep." Gosh. No one told her. We assumed that she would know. Our prior knowledge and her lack of experience set us all up for failure. We would never give her a game without explaining the rules. We wouldn't give her a toy without giving her the guidelines, like: only use this outside or when the light comes on--it's ready. We wouldn't ask her to help us cook without teaching her the techniques as we went along.
This episode has taught us a lesson. It's easy for forget that she is only 5 years old. I have shoes that are waaaaaaay older than her. She's only a little person even though she can talk and reason. Once the diapers and sippy cups are gone it's too easy to make our kids grow up too fast. I'm stopping to smell the roses along the way from now on...and the dandelions, which Anna Jane thinks are the prettiest flowers by far.
Again, knowledge will soon enough change that.
PS-she hopped out of bed with enthusiasm this morning and danced to her music! what a way to start your day!
