Day 338: The way I wake up now has certainly been redefined since I was a young girl. When I was really little, Mom would come into my room and put her hand on my cheek. It was a gentle way to awaken. Then I got my first clock radio for Christmas. It was the kind where the number tiles flipped forward, and it took over the job.
Several alarm clocks later, I was a mother, and when my alarm chimed, it meant getting up to wake the children. My deep sleepers needed some rousing, so, in my not-awesome voice, I sang “Rise and shout! The cougars are out!” or a made-up tune that went something like “It’s time to get up. Get up, get up, get up. Get. Up!”
My sons had a rooster alarm clock for a few years that was just slightly more irritating than my singing.
By the time it was only our two daughters at home, our bedroom was directly above theirs, and when my husband’s alarm on his cell phone went off, it was so loud Mallory would call me on my cell phone and tell me to tell her dad to turn off his alarm. She knew if she called him, he would just think it was his alarm.
I’m ashamed to say that by the time it was just our youngest daughter at home, I usually just called her cell to make sure she had set her alarm. I hope my kids can remember the days when I woke them up in person.
Now, I’m back to waking myself up, although I do yell “The bathroom’s all yours!” so David knows it is time to rise and shout. Redefined, yet not that different.
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