My hubby was on a business trip earlier this week when he called me from his hotel room to check in. I asked him why he sounded so groggy...
"After the World Series game, right as I was drifting off to sleep, my phone rang -- our oldest son was just calling to shoot the breeze."
Our college Freshman thought nothing of casually phoning his Dad around midnight, as there were pressing matters to discuss. Top of the agenda was a blow-by-blow recap of the World Series, followed by an overview of the next few NBA match-ups along with predictions about the upcoming college football weekend.
Throughout the conversation, Dad assumed his boy didn't realize he woke him. But, just as they were about to hang up, our son quipped,
"Well, I'll let you get back to sleep now!"
I couldn't help but sympathize over that yesterday morning, when I had trouble rousting myself after being "on-call" at 1 a.m. for our 21-year-old daughter. When it comes to tapping into some highly-sought-after-much-needed-mom-advice, apparently any time is the right time!
This behavior isn't limited to just the college set either. It's standard for high schoolers too. We were sound asleep one night last week, when our 16-year-old walked in our room with a few pointed questions about the political landscape in this country. While we certainly respect his election-disgust, we couldn't help but mutter to each other, as we struggled to fall back asleep, "Why wasn't he dismayed earlier, like maybe around dinner time?"
Rest assured we dispense a lot more than sports/political analysis and free dating advice in the middle of the night. We also provide 24-hour banking. That's right -- we will service all of your banking needs at any hour. Cash advance? Balance inquiry? Money transfers? No problem. Text or call us anytime.
Need round-the-clock fashion consultations? Can't decide which boots to wear with a particular outfit? Just text your mother a selfie. She'll opine. No matter that it's 10:45 and she can barely keep her eyes open past the 10 o'clock news; you know she wants you looking your best at all times.
In the world of our teenagers and 20-somethings, the clock is entirely reversed. They may as well live in Australia. Like baby raccoons, their lives don't even get interesting until around the time the rest of us are winding down for the day. Maybe God did that to help us share the planet more efficiently. I don't know. But, they definitely operate in a different time zone.
I was asked recently to write an article about what it was like to be sleep-deprived during the challenging infant and toddler years. I had to laugh. The infant and toddler years? Is there some crazy notion out there that, at some point during parenting, you get to sleep all night? Not in my experience.
Earlier this morning, at the incredibly considerate grown-adult hour of 10 a.m., I called my son down in College Town to confirm some plans for later today.
"Hhhhhhello?????" came his hoarse, barely audible greeting.
"Hi honey!" I chirped in my chirpiest mom-voice, "Did I wake you?"
"Uhhhhh-huhhhhh," he responded.
"Okay, well go back to sleep, but call me when you wake up!"
That was three hours ago. I'm still waiting...
No worries Mate! This isn't my first rodeo. If I get really bored waiting for my kids to call, I just log on to my banking app and move some money around in reverse. That's always guaranteed to generate some texts and a phone call or two.
Originally published on: http://agingersnapped.com
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