Subconscious

Coby has always been early riser. We never had to wake him up. He was up with the birds - literally. But lately something has changed... it is harder to wake him up. Could it be the fact that he is a teenager and that is what they are supposed to do? I wasn't sure so I asked Coby about it.

"Coby, I think maybe you need to start going to bed earlier because I am having a really hard time waking you up in the morning." Coby, "No Mom, that wouldn't help at all." Me, "I think it would help a lot, you would be better rested and more pleasant. :)" Coby, "You don't understand the problem Mom." Me, "Why don't you explain it to me?"

Coby, "The problem is that when you wake me up you only wake me up to my subconscious level and you need to be waking me up to my mentally conscious level so that I can be aware of my surroundings."

Pause.... (Mom is thinking of what to say next) "Coby, I am pretty sure you just need to go to bed earlier."

I started thinking about how I would wake him up in the morning to be sure that he was fully aware of his surroundings. I could say, "Coby, honey - sweetheart. This is Mom. Tell me if you understand. Are you mentally conscious? Can you tell me if you are aware of your surroundings?"

Instead, I am pretty sure I will stick with my, "I said GET UP!" method. It gets the job done.