Time

Oscar is an early riser, by my standards anyway. It's all part of the disability package. For years we've been trying to teach him to stay in bed till 7am. But still we find evidence of stealthy early awakenings -- books or toys scattered on the floor of the cramped closet or a light on in an odd place. Sometimes we hear him, or worse, Abe yelling at him to be quiet, as early as 5am.

Now that he is starting to learn how to tell time, things are getting a little better. But it's summer, and 7am is too early for me when I am not nodding off till past 1am. Last week, Oscar begged me to put a clock in his room so he didn't have to get out of bed to look at the clock in the kitchen. I obliged, but I tried to trick him by setting it back a 1/2 hour, thinking I could catch some extra sleep.

I should have known better. Tonight as I putting Oscar to bed he told me that he didn't like that clock I'd placed on his bedside shelf. When I asked why he said that that clock was "slow". Although he was right, I was surprised he used such accurate words to describe the clock -- his accuracy didn't fit with his tenuous understanding of the concept of time. Curious, I asked what he meant by "slow".

"Well, when this one says 6:20 the kitchen one says ten minutes to 7." He's right. And I'm impressed.

And then he says, "Yeah, it's slow, Mom. It just takes too long get to 7:00 so I only use it when I want to sleep in. I use the kitchen clock when I'm ready to wake up."

So much for trying to throw this kid off. Still, it's clear he doesn't really "get" time, and my shenanigans certainly haven't helped. Just goes to show how desperate I am for sleep! Maybe I should go to bed earlier...