Life

Nina Matti for Romper
Parents At Camp Romper Tell Us Who Rules The Morning Time

by Nina Matti

Ask a high achiever how they get it done with young kids, and you're likely to hear some variation of "get up extra early, before the kids are awake." In this magic pre-dawn twilight, people supposedly exercise and prep meals and do box breaths and issue calming thoughts to the house. Well OK. We canvassed the parents at Camp Romper for a look at who wakes up first on weekends in their families and, shockingly, the kids took the trophy. Many, many kids seem to wake up before the crack of dawn no matter how hard parents try to extend their precious sleeping time by even a few minutes. (In fairness, if I went to bed at 7:30 p.m. I would probably feel pretty fresh at 6 a.m., too!) Get up early to sneak in some you-time, and you're likely to be met with cries of "It's wake-up time!" It's wake-up time!" At least that's how it shook out among the parents at Camp Romper.

In case you missed it, Romper hosted its first Camp Romper on Sunday, Sept. 22, in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park — a day-long camp with musical performances, arts and crafts, yoga, food, drink, and small children wielding plastic golf clubs. There, we struck up conversations with other parents about their morning rituals, and their morning wakeup calls (aka, their kids storming in and needing something). Turns out everyone's definition of "too early" is a little different, and a lucky few have kids who actually do sleep until a polite hour.

So grab a coffee (perhaps your second), and read on to find out what morning looks like to Brooklyn families.

Alejandra, mom to Kennedy, 3

Nina Matti for Romper

"Kennedy wakes up first. She thinks she’s the boss, and she wakes everybody else up. 'Mommy, I’m hungry! Mommy, I’m thirsty!' She always wants something. And she wakes up early, early, early, like 6:30. Like, you have a job, kid?"

Virendra, mom to Davika, 3

Nina Matti for Romper

“They wake up first. With a lot of energy. They force me to wake up at like 8 o’clock.”

Kacy, mom to Hazel, 3

Nina Matti for Romper

"We’re lucky she sleeps until 9:30 every day. It’s insane. She goes to sleep at 10, so she’s on a super late schedule … It’s heaven … It works for us. Other friends have said, ‘Oh I could never do that,’ but it’s great for us, especially in the summer when it’s nice out later."

Lindsey, mom to Jasper, age 2

Nina Matti for Romper

"Do you really need more information? Of course he does! That’s the one thing, arguing over trading who has to get up Saturday versus Sunday."

Kevin, dad to Ariel, 2 1/2

Nina Matti for Romper

"I am. On both weekends and weekdays!"

Erick, dad to Asher, 3, and Micah-Jules, 6

Nina Matti for Romper

"This guy over here, the littlest. He wakes up every day first. He has an internal alarm clock that lets him know to wake up at 5:30 in the morning. I need that. Like where are you going, man? Work?"

Sonya, mom to Leilani, 2

Nina Matti for Romper

“She does! 7 a.m. every. single. day.”

Jen, mom to Jax, age 1

"Him! He wakes up first and we get up with him. Usually I get him and dad out so I can get ready and go to work."

Tamara, mom to Thalia, 3, and Neyssa, 4

Nina Matti for Romper

"Most of the time, I do. Yesterday they did though. You know, as the parent, you have to wake up early and prep for the day, make breakfast, what to do during the day to get them busy and moving around."