Let me be clear: We have four alarm clocks in our house; one per family member. We also have four phones with built-in alarm clocks. But somehow, if I don’t open bedroom doors, turn on lights, and perform the “wake-up ritual” (jostling covers, calls to get up) then everyone simply sleeps on blissfully unaware that they need to get out of bed.
Even when I run or go to the gym, I stop in the middle of the workout to make a call to home and cell phones to make sure everyone is up. The few times that I have neglected to do this, I return to sheer panic as everyone tells me they can’t possibly be ready to go in 20 minutes.
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I asked my husband why this pattern exists. He said simply: “Because we count on you to get us up. You’re good at it.”
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I failed to set my alarm clock. Would we all oversleep and miss our deadlines for carpool and work?
I’m not ready to find out what would happen if I did this, but sometimes I’m tempted …
Amanda is the mom of two, a reporter for WRAL-TV and an author of several books, including some on motherhood. Find her here Mondays.