<p>Would he object or be grouchy about it if you tried to make plans with him for earlier in the day? Say, go for lunch somewhere he likes around noon?</p>
<p>I know when I used to come home for long breaks I would gravitate to an extreme night-owl schedule… but when my mom told me she missed seeing me and invited me to go to a museum with her in the late morning/early afternoon, I realized I’d been ignoring her and was happy to go.</p>
<p>Well schools in CT are closed today due to ice and S2 (HS junior) is still asleep at 11am. When S1 was home from college this past vacation, he was always up way past my bed-time and then awake in the morning before I left for work around 7am. He must operate on almost no sleep. I was tempted to encourage him to sleep in, but I figured he was trying to keep to a routine.</p>
<p>I have always been a real fan of sleep. If S wanted to sleep late during weekends and breaks in HS it was OK with us. The flipside was that he had to fend for himself when he didn’t match our schedule. That meant he had to feed himself when he got up. And if he slept in on the day the other family members’ sheets got stripped off their bed and replaced and the used sheets washed, he had to do all that himself for his bed. BTW–he would chose to sleep and do his own chores than get up on our schedule.</p>
<p>College has been the same and as a Soph there is an additional wrinkle. S makes all visits very short or doesn’t make it home at all. He was here 5 days at Winter Break before leaving to join friends to crash at a variety of places to ski in the Rockies. Since he pays for all this, we don’t have the 3,4 and 5 weeks of young adult on the premises.</p>
<p>I don’t know about other parents, but I don’t sleep nearly as deeply and as long as I did when I was say 20. I envy him when he can sleep 10+ hours at a strech. I figure youth is a time to get all the sleep you lose when you become “not young.”</p>
<p>D has been getting up at 7AM on weekdays the entire school year for her part time job (8-12). Before she came home for her two week break, she said she was really looking forwards to (A) seeing us, (B) free food, (C) sleeping in.
Two weeks is the longest she has been home for the last 4 years and I was thrilled to accomodate all three wishes. She slept 10-12 hours every day for two weeks.</p>
<p>My son and I are going to the UK for the weekend. It’s really important to S that he perform well (athletically) on Saturday/Sunday … so he is trying to reset his clock to avoid major jetlag. He’s been getting up early. It’s NICE!</p>
<p>He’s also been <em>cooking</em> … which is REALLY nice. Nothing like having your college son cook breakfast for you in the morning … as in french toast, juice, coffee, and fruit!</p>
<p>My philosophy, they are adults, they go to bed when they are pleased and get up when they are pleased. Too much responsibilities at school, I let them do whatever at home (within legal limits).</p>
<p>A wise older parent once told me that if you want your teenagers to talk to you, stay up late with them.</p>
<p>I let S2 sleep. We are all night owls, so it’s not a problem although I have to get up and go to work. During break I do not use the alarm and go in later, but starting next week I’ll have to be there by 7:50 to get a parking place. We, including the dog, all keep odd hours anyway. </p>
<p>S2 will have to get up early on Sat. for the long drive to the airport.</p>
<p>Very common for college age night owls to sleep in until 3 pm. Let him sleep- there will be plenty of years he will have to get up earlier, even during the next school semester. We adjusted to an empty nest and don’t try to go back to regular family meals on most days with son. Ran into someone at the Y a few days ago who has post college age sons, looked at the time and noted it was too soon for son to be up- before 3, he laughed and agreed.</p>
<p>S1 got up at 5:45 am every day through MS and HS. He’s a perky person, even if he gets up early and stays up late. I let him sleep in over break, unless he had to get to work/appointments. (The dog also requested him for her early morning “appointments.”) I have no objections if he comes home and takes a nap later. I’ve been known to do that myself. 
</p>
<p>He was very good about being social and helpful while he was home – I was pleasantly surprised at his level of cooperation w/chores and hanging out with us. That said, he was darned glad to get back “home” to his dorm.</p>
<p>I agree let them sleep. They are adults now they make up their own mind. Just let them know night before if they have to be up early.</p>
<p>I think letting them sleep is one thing. Letting them interfere with YOUR sleep is another matter altogether. Maybe say the house has to be quiet after 11:00pm or whatever works for you.</p>
<p>Also I agree that planning some family outings so younger s gets to enjoy his time with older brother is appropriate. Your college age s is still a (nonpaying I assume) member of your family.</p>
<p>This thread reminds me of an old “Cosby” episode when Denise comes home from college, sleeps in, goes out with friends… at the end of the visit the family totally ignore Denise as she’s ready to leave to return to college - turnabout is fair play I suppose ;)</p>
<p>D1 slept in but we weren’t tip toeing around, especially if she wasn’t up by noon! Guess I am in the minority but we made it hard to sleep past 12!</p>
<p>NorthMinnesota, I agree. I didn’t wake DS up unless there was a reason to (we needed to go somewhere, usually) but we didn’t tiptoe around either. I’d push his door partway open around 10 am so the noise would drift in. We’re not a terribly noisy family, though.</p>
<p>I have a saying: “College Time” is like “West Coast Time.” College students go to bed and get up 3 hours later than the Real World. Occasionally when we need to go somewhere, or DS is going to a friend’s house for the evening, I’ll remind him that he’s in the Real World, not at College, and on Real World Time people have to get up for work.</p>
<p>We always had a rule in our house that D should not sleep past 9am. There were sometimes extenuating circumstanceson occasionly, but we have pretty much kept to this rule during summer high school, and now during summer break from college. Not so much during Christmas break, but seeing that we still have 6 & 9 year olds in the house, it’s never quiet anyway. She has told me that she was always prepared for the early class, and never had the trouble her peers did getting up for work in the summer. I think every person does better with routine. Sleeping til noon on weekends, and then expecting to feel ok when you wake up early during the week makes no sense to me. My D is leaving tomorrow for a study abroad in the UK. The time difference should make things interesting.</p>
<p>It was pretty easy for us to let s sleep late during the holiday break. He needed to relax and do what he needed to do to recharge for the next semester.
Now…we’re thinking ahead to the summer and I just don’t know. He may have trouble finding work in this economy and I think it would be hard to watch him sleep through the afternoon for weeks on end…and with no job. I can’t help equating it with laziness. And if he is really looking for a job…most places that would hire him are on normal…not night owl hours. He’s a junior now…so at some point, he needs to adjust. So we’re considering some rules.
Good to read that there are lots out there like him. I was a night owl back in my colleg days but noon seemed like sleeping late to me. This 2 or 3pm business seems a bit extreme.</p>