How Do I Get Him Out of Bed?

My 8 year old hates to get out of bed in the morning. He is like me in that way. I, too, have a hard time leaping from my warm bed at 6:20 am. I have always preferred to go to bed late and rise even later. Alas, my life does not allow me this luxury very often. The 11 year is up before her alarm sounds each morning. A trait clearly inherited from her father. The 13 year old would like to linger in bed, but always manages to stumble downstairs on time. The 4 year old usually gets up when she hears me in the bathroom. So what do I do with my sleepy headed boy?

It was so bad this morning that the carpool pulled into the driveway and my boy was still in his room, naked. He went to school with his breakfast smoothie in a paper cup. I have tried everything that I can think of to help this child. We are into our 2nd alarm clock. The first, the plug-in electric variety, was a poor choice because he can not yet tell time. I thought that I would set the alarm for him, but he kept changing the time. The alarm would ring at all times of the day and night. Then I purchased him an old fashioned, now retro, clock with a face. I patiently showed him where the big hand should point and that he should be ready to go down to the kitchen at that moment. Didn't work. He still plays with the time, messes with the alarm and has thus made the clock idea a total failure.

I have sat on his bed and gently woken him by stroking his head. I have climbed the stairs many, many times to cut down on the bellowing. I have bellowed until I am blue in the face. Several months ago I hit upon the idea of a consequence if a child did not appear in the kitchen at the appointed time. The "extra chore" was of my choosing and must be completed when the child returned from school. In the last week my boy has scrubbed the upstairs toilet, washed the bathroom sink, scrubbed the kitchen cabinets and swept and mopped the kitchen floor. The cabinets were done yesterday. My floor was mopped just a short while ago. Clearly, this child does not mind the work. And although I love the fact that my house is cleaner, it does not solve the problem.

On the way home today, I threatened this child with what I consider a last resort tactic. Actually, my father used to do this to me when I was a child. If I did not get out of bed in a timely manner, he would drag me and all of my covers into the upstairs hallway. I hated it! And I swore that I would never do the same to any of my children. Well, I am clearly out of options. I threatened my beloved son with the same harsh treatment that my father used on me. I really don't know if I can do it, but I am literally at my wits end.