Parents When are they supposed to sleep?

[gymmutti]

I just got my 9th grader's bus times in the mail (starting school next week). I am trying to figure out how she is supposed to sleep. Bus time is 5:40am (so must be at bus stop at 5:30am) and school begins at 7. She gets home on the bus at 3:30pm (will be later the first few weeks). I have to pick her up at home by 4:15 to get her to gym by 5. She gets out at 9pm and home by 9:40pm. Assuming no homework (and not the multi-hours that a kid loaded in all honors classes will have) and eating dinner in the car home, she could at best get to bed by 10:30. So that means the absolute most sleep she'll get is 6 - 6.5 hours. Now add homework into the mix..... I'm not sure how this is going to work. Anyone have any positive stories to tell me?

 

[sce]

How far away is the school? Could she get more sleep if someone drives her? Any chance of her going straight to gym from school, and working on homework at gym? Cutting out some travel time could give her more time to work.

 

[MILgymFAM]

At DDs previous gym there was always 2-3 girls doing homework during whatever rotation coach picked for them to miss. It was common for girls to do that almost every day. Is that something that's possible at your DDs gym? Otherwise I agree with SCE that cutting some of the commute could help. Also, last year my DD did homework during her commute. For us that was 2-3 hours a day that she could sleep, work, or snack in the car. Looks like your commute is longer too, and that's definitely found time if she can make use of it.

One of my DDs teammates at her current gym is so used to only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night due to homework and gym that in the summer she complained that 8 hours felt like too much sleep. I feel for these kids. The schedules in high school once you throw hw into the mix can be ridiculous.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

MENTAL

Firstly, what numpty has school scheduled to start at 7 am ?

Secondly, how far away is it that the bus takes and hour and a half ?

tiz all madness I tell you, madness

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

If you are able, I would highly recommend getting someone to drive her to and from school. Based on your schedule, the long bus rides are stealing her sleep!!!!! I work from home, so I am able to drive my kids to school and pick them up. If not, they would spend 1.5 hours per day on the bus. If I were not able to do it myself, I would hire a high school senior or college student to pick them up for me. Also, have you asked about a reduced schedule at school for early release? LOTS of gymnasts her age across the US are able to skip the last hour of school (many get PE credit). Imagine how different her life (and yours) would be if she was released from either first or last period. Every kid is different, but there aren't many who can make it on 6 hours per sleep. Teens need 9+.

 

[caligymdad]

We homeschool our DD.

 

[gymbeam]

oh gosh. the only thing i can think of is talking to the school about building in some "study halll" time for her. high schools do seem to have more flexibility in scheduling so perhaps they can work with you. some even allow a combo of doing a few online courses. the schedule you've stated just does not seem like a good set up. keep us posted!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Drive her to school and pick her up. Lap desk in the car for work.

Why it is bus ride 1 hour 20 mins. That is almost 3 hours out of her day.

 

[mommyof1]

That is absolutely insane. Is this a magnet school clear across town, or just a really poorly designed bus schedule? How far apart are work, home, school, gym?

Can you drive her to school before work? What about having her stay after school to do homework instead of riding the bus home and picking her up there instead of at home in late afternoon?

I can't imagine that even a non-gymnast teen could get enough sleep with a 5:30 bus time.

 

[flipster]

Bus rides are tiring.

 

[gymmutti]

How far away is the school? Could she get more sleep if someone drives her? Any chance of her going straight to gym from school, and working on homework at gym? Cutting out some travel time could give her more time to work.

I wish. Unfortunately YDD is also a gymnast and gets out of school at 3:20 - so I have to wait in carpool line for an hour to pick her up so that I can then pick up ODD at home to run to gym. There are no other gymnasts from her gym at the high school so she has to ride the bus. YDD's bus would get home too late to get to practice - so I have to pick her up. I had it good up until then as both attended the same school (a K-8 school).

 

[GymDad9.9]

Sending you guys sleep fairies

 

[gymisforeveryone]

Omg. I'm an adult and I would die if I had a schedule like that. Why on earth does the school start at 7am?

 

[skschlag]

What about taking her later instead of riding the bus?

Also, my ds does his homework on the bus quite a bit, whenever possible. And in the car. That helps. ALso, look at a schedule that maybe gives her first or last period off, so that you can deal with transportation better.

 

[gymmutti]

Yes- she is continuing on with her magnet theme education and the school is about 20-25 min away going to the school (coming back is likely longer as I would be heading in the direction of traffic). YDD is in elementary school and I am a single parent - so if I took ODD to school, I would have to wake up YDD and drag her with me (which I do not want to do). The school has stated if you drive, you should plan to get there by 6:45am - so we would need to leave by 6:20am - that would be an additional 40 minutes but would cause YDD to have to wake up a lot earlier than now. I am hoping she can sleep on the bus in the morning and do HW on the bus in the afternoon. I looked at her taking city buses from school to the gym but I'm not sure I feel comfortable doing that at her age and where the gym is located. In previous years when kids were together we did exactly what all have suggested and I drove her straight to practice from school and they got there with time to do about 45 min of homework. In middle school she was up to 11 or midnight doing homework but got to sleep in until 7 as I would drive them to school in the morning. We talked about this as a possibility when she chose this school and she is adamant right now that she wants to do it. It is the only school with a actual Chinese teacher (vs. taking the class virtually) and will allow her to explore her interests in engineering and health sciences. Fingers crossed that she has good teachers in the spring when meet season begins. The school has dealt with high level competitive gymnasts in the past.

 

[duyetanh]

MENTAL

Firstly, what numpty has school scheduled to start at 7 am ?

Secondly, how far away is it that the bus takes and hour and a half ?

tiz all madness I tell you, madness

I would like to like this post 1000 times. And when the hell are YOU going to sleep so you can be the glue that holds the fam together?
It's madness.

 

[UnoMas]

Sigh, I'm sorry, my younger two have a similar school schedule but not as much time in the gym. My oldest has a later start time in high school thankfully, but she often will sit out part of practice or leave early if she's buried in homework. They have to sleep. If they don't, they'll get injured. I would see if you can work something out with the coach to let her get at least some homework time at gym.

 

[lhmom]

Guess they don't believe in the study that says later school start times are beneficial to teens! This sounds absolutely brutal. My son just started a public magnet school for high school but they start later, not earlier. I would maybe ask if there was any way to get her into a study hall? Or as others suggested, chat with the coaches about taking some time to get in some homework. I remember seeing girls at DD's gym either leaving early or working on homework during warmup time. I remember the HC deciding to give the high school girls Thursday off instead of Monday(because most of them had end of the week tests). Wish her and you the best of luck! Hopefully, she can find a schedule that works.

 

[twinmomma]

As a high schooler, our school started at 8, but for those of us who were in band (and some other "extra" curriculars) practice was "zero" period and started at 7am. No buses for zero period kids though - buses only got there in time for 1st period. That said, if that's the regular start time, that's ridiculous, and I don't know who approved bus routes starting at 5:40am - that's practically child abuse.

To the poster who said "homeschool" like it's so easy - it isn't an option for everyone.

I think this is where a lot of girls quit because it just becomes too much. I think conversations all around (gym, school) about adjustments that can be made would be my first thought. Secondly, it seems to be the time to decide which is more important to her - gym, or going to this particular school. Sometimes they have to learn that they can't actually do everything.

 

[trampolinemom]

Wow, it sounds pretty insane. I guess we are very fortunate with our travel times in our small country. Isn't it possible to find a neighbor willing to babysit sleeping YDD while you drive ODD?