how I make my kids stay in bed until 7:41 every morning

Around Christmas, my kids got together and decided 5:30-6:00 would be the best time to get up every morning.

This was not acceptable to me, my husband, or the dog. We all need our beauty sleep (especially those two princesses Chris and Blue) and it was causing us all great distress (to put it mildly). I had heard through the parent-grapevine that Amazon sold these kid clocks that light up red or green depending on whether the child should still be in bed or it was time to get up. Great idea for little kids who don’t know how to tell time or read numbers yet.

So I did some research and found some I thought would work. The only problems were that they were way too expensive (although I was willing to pay for one anyway because, um, sleep) and they were all pretty ugly. I didn’t want this juvenile, primary color alarm clock thing in my daughters’ room. I wanted it to match the aesthetic of their room and not be an eye sore.

Enter the random wall light and appliance timer solution.

Let me start off by saying this isn’t my idea. I belong to a local mom’s social group (theCityMoms) and someone suggested this and I pretty much thought it was the greatest idea of all time so I’m sharing it in case you need a cheap and easy way to keep your kids in bed, too. I guess the picture above is deceiving because “until I want them up” would be around 10:00 every day. This is not that magical. But keep them in bed until 7:30 or 8:00? Totally realistic.

We picked up the small heart light at Target. I didn’t want a lamp because on the off chance they’re actually still sleeping when the light comes on, I didn’t want it waking them up. (A girl can always hope, right?) The light was less than $15 (similar light here) (or a stoplight option) and we picked up the cheapest, low-frills appliance timer they carried. It was around $5. (similar one here)

Then it was as simple as mounting the light on the wall, setting the timer, and plugging it in. That next morning, Harper got out of bed too early so we gently led her back and told her not to come out until the light was on. She cried, but stayed in bed. Since then, it’s worked like a charm. Occasionally the girls will get up and use the bathroom, but they go right back to their beds and wait until the light comes on.

But you know exactly when it is 7:41 because they both stampede out the door, yelling “The heart is on! The heart is on!” at the top of their lungs. It’s a rude little wake-up call if there ever was one. But it’s so much better than the 5:45 that it was a few months ago. Best.idea.ever.

 

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