WFMW - Kitchen Timer

It is time again to linky linky to Rocks in my Dryer.

When dealing with a child that doesn't understand the concept of time, gets sidetracked easily or just doesn't notice others waiting on them, we have found something that helps. After many years of temper tantrums, anger, frustration and guilt, we finally went out and bought a regular kitchen timer. The wind up kind that makes all kinds of noise. We sit it on the counter in the bathroom, on their desks, in the hallway and any other place time frames are set. We set the boundaries and time limits and everyone must abide by them. They can hear the timer ticking, and can easily see how much time they have left.

"You have 15 minutes in the shower. When the timer goes off, the water must also be off." If it isn't off, I go in and turn it off. It sounds a little mean, but after waiting almost 30 minutes for a child to take a shower, and then all the hot water being gone so mom has to take a cold shower (grrr), drastic measures had to be taken. I can't stand being late to places, and this had caused that more than once.

"You have 10 minutes to get into pajamas, brush your teeth and be ready for reading. If you are not done, you go to bed as is, no exceptions". The 5 year old has a harder time with bedtime, so we set this up for both kids. It is fabulous! No more 45 bed times, and no more whining about needing more time. There were a couple times in the beginning that they went to bed with only half their pajama's on, or without brushing their teeth (which they both hate the feeling of), but not any more. They are normally ready before we are!

I love the kitchen timer, and it works for me! Head on over to Shannon's for more Works for me Wednesday tips!