Sometimes when I write a post about our typical unschooling days, a reader stops by and says, “Oh, Sue, your mornings sound delightful! I wish my family would get up early so we could get a good start on the day. I can’t get my kids out of bed. They just grumble and roll over and go back to sleep. What can I do?”
Now, this might not be you, but if it is, what do you do? Perhaps you do nothing.
I’m describing our typical unschooling days. They suit us. We get up early so we can enjoy running along our bush tracks in the cool of a summer’s morning. There is nothing quite like being out in the Australian bush just after sunrise. We think it’s worth getting up while most people are still in bed. And it’s not hard for us to do this because we’re morning people.
But you might be night owls, who enjoy staying up late watching movies or chatting together. Or maybe someone in your family arrives home from work late in the day. You might want to do things together as a family at a time when we’re thinking about going to bed.
Does it really matter what time we get up? Only if we have to be somewhere at a certain hour. Or if there’s some other reason for rolling out of bed early. Apart from that, we’re free to go to bed and get up whenever we like, at a time that suits us best.
But what if you disagree. You might think it’s good for your kids to get up early. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise. You might want to change your night owl children into early risers. Is there anything you can do?
Well, you could insist and risk getting into battles.
Or perhaps you can get up early yourself. You could issue a casual invitation such as: “In the morning, I’m going for a walk before breakfast. Anyone want to join me?” If someone does want to join you that’s good. But if no one rolls out of bed at the required hour, don’t worry. Go by yourself. And keep getting up early. If it’s really that important to you, you will want to, even if no one else is interested in adopting this habit.
Whenever we want our kids to do something, whether it’s getting up early, helping with the chores or something else, it needs to start with us. And we need to persist even if our kids don’t respond as we hope. If we give up, our kids will get the message that early rising doesn’t mean much to us after all.
So if you like the sound of our early mornings, you can have them. Get up early. See the sunrise. Run or walk along a track. Come home and enjoy your breakfast. Get a good start on the day. Will your kids join you? Will they want to be early risers too? I don’t know. They might, especially if they can see a reason for doing it. I guess it’s up to them.
I wrote this story three years ago. Since then, our sleeping and rising habits have changed a bit. I still get up early to go running. My day is just the same. But now that most of my girls are working, they’ve adjusted their days. Some mornings, they get up early to run or go to the gym before going to work. But on the days when they don’t need to go anywhere, they might sleep in longer. They relax and enjoy having a slow morning. Unless, of course, there’s something they really can’t wait to get up and do!
Something Extra
When we were making music videos, we had to get up early, very early, so that we were at our filming location just before sunrise. The first light of the day is beautiful. It’s perfect for photography and videography. After we’d filmed our videos, usually we’d have a breakfast picnic before coming home.
These photos are from the Safe and Sound music video shoot. (Hasn’t Gemma-Rose grown a lot since then?!) Here’s the video in case you’d like to watch it!
So, are you a morning person or a night owl? Perhaps you rise early when you have to and sleep in on other days? Do you find that, in general, everyone in your family syncs their sleeping and waking habits? Or does everyone have a different sleep pattern? (Could that be frustrating?) I’d love to hear your story!
Hi Sue,
We’re all night owls here:). Unfortunately, I tend not to be able to sleep very late, even when I’d like to,and my oldest son is the same so I guess I’d say that the two of us just don’t need too much sleep. The rest of the family naturally stays up late and sleeps in (with no difficulty) whenever they can. We’re pretty easy going about sleep patterns so we just try to be respectful if someone is trying to get to bed early or grabbing a chance to sleep in – that’s about it!
The video and Imogen’s singing are absolutely beautiful!
Erin,
I love your words about being respectful. Maybe some people are afraid of radical unschooling because they think that if kids are free to choose their own bedtimes etc, they might inconvenience the rest of the family. But respect and consideration and freedom are woven together, aren’t they?
Thank you so much for your kind feedback about Imogen’s video! It was lovely of you to watch it!
I wouldn’t be bothered by my kids’ crazy sleep habits if it didn’t disrupt meal times. It is frustrating when one is starving for lunch at noon but another just ate breakfast at 11. It makes it hard for us to eat a nice meal as a family.
Kristyn,
Oh yes, when there are different sleep patterns, it must be hard to find a time when everyone is ready to eat together. How about dinner in the evening? We all get our own breakfast and lunch when it suits us, but we like to gather for dinner at the end of the day.
Oh I love this post, Sue! I’m a very early riser- I usually wake up around 5 am. My daughter & husband are total night owls, so my daughter likes to sleep until around 10 am. It used to be hard for me because I wanted to get up & out to do fun adventures in the early morning! But now I love those quiet hours so much— to spend time reading and drinking coffee and doing things I want to do, and have plenty of time to get the house in order for a wonderful day of unschooling. It’s helpful to have that time to strew or lay out books and projects, or get our things together and picnics packed to go out. Unschooling life is so much more enjoyable when we go with the flow!
Lauren,
I’m always awake at 5 am too! I like to get up while it’s still dark and enjoy some quiet time before I go for a run. I make some tea, pray, check mail, write… while I wait for the sun to rise. That’s my favourite time of the day. Oh yes, go with the flow!
As I said, I wrote this story a few years ago. I wasn’t going to post it. But your words about loving it, make me glad I did. Thank you!
Generally I get up about 5.30am and love that time in the morning to try and get ahead of myself. Or if I’m honest, often to reset from the day before – aspirations of a shiny sink here 🙂
As for everyone else in my house, we have quite a mix going on right now, somehow though with those important pieces you mention Sue, respect and consideration and freedom, it all seems to flow quite nicely, most days at least.
I’m glad you published the post. I love that I can imagine you two, Sue and Lauren, getting up at a similar time to me, though of course not the actual same time as we’re so far apart geographically. But it’s a nice thought anyhow 🙂
Hayley,
Oh yes, we can accomodate everyone’s needs if we are considerate!
I also love the thought of the three of us getting up early and enjoying some quiet time before the day gets busy. This morning, I was thinking about you and Lauren while I was sipping my tea!
Hi Sue,
Imogen sounded wonderful. It was beautifully done. She truly has an amazing talent. Did Gemma Rose sing in the background? The harmonizing was lovely and the video location and panning the background was a great fit with song itself. Very good job Ladies.?❤️?
Deb,
Thank you so much for your kind words! No, Gemma-Rose didn’t sing. Imogen recorded multiple tracks of herself singing the various parts and then mixed them together. There are some lovely places close to our home where we have recorded music videos. This location is a nearby river. We’ve recorded a few videos at different places along the river. Each one looks different! Thank you for taking the time to watch!