Here at our house we’re finally getting over the morning blues. 

Both my daughter and I were surprised to learn that high school students in our new hometown in North Carolina must be in class, alert and ready to start learning, at 7:15 a.m. The school bus stops near our house at 6:30 a.m. It’s dark outside. 

Until now, my daughter’s classes began at 9 am; the school bus picked her up at 8 a.m. Those late morning starts allowed for extra studying time before a big test or the leisure of having a big breakfast. 

During the first couple of weeks of school here, she has struggled to get up, get dressed and get out of the house on time. I helped some, at first, knocking on her bedroom door and nudging her to hurry up. Then I stopped.

We had a family meeting. I told my daughter that getting up and getting to school on time is her responsibility, that I would no longer wake her up if she forgets to set her alarm, and she would have to pay me to drive her to school if she misses the bus. (She really didn’t like the idea of having to spend her allowance to get to school.) 

These days my daughter is taking control of her mornings. She has set her alarm clock a little earlier to give herself some wakeup time and she is making her bed before leaving. (My Mom also insisted that I leave a neat room when I was growing up.) She is getting to the bus stop on time.

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