Thanks for linking the alarm clock, we recently bought one and the display doesn't stay on 🤦it's "sound activated" which means the toddlers scream and make loud noises to check the time 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦
All the people flexing about reading analog clocks…guys they are FOUR. Number recognition is the important thing at that age, not knowing how to tell time.
The only analog clock in my house isn’t working and on the kitchen wall lol I sill can’t read one of them clocks yes I did learn how to read those clocks in maths in my primary school but….my 7 year old self wasn’t listening so I now just rely on digital clocks and hope whenever the time goes forward an hour or not that I know when it’s gonna happen so I have my clock at the right time if need to I change it
My brother got a color coded clock for my niece. When the light turns green, it means she can wake up mom and dad, if it’s yellow she can play quietly in her room. If it’s red, only get mom and dad in an emergency, like she threw up, wet herself, there’s a fire, or a shark attacked her.
Congrats! This is a big step towards their independence. Not just because they'll leave you alone, but because a sense of time gives them the ability to structure their own day (eventually)
I do that during the week days especially during term time. I even showed my kids how to use a toaster (just pop the bread in the toaster and push the button and wait for toaster to jump out).
@@monicamolina2221 you can also just get small jugs of milk and teach your kid how to make cereal. The small jug is easier to pour and you wont have to worry about a huge mess if it gets spilled. Thats what i did with my kid and now he dont even want me making his cereal. He likes being able to do things on his own.
My heart is full knowing there are kids out there with kind parents i used to just wait for my mom until i literally was dizzy with hunger and still get yelled at. I wish anything was asked of my as a child that i understood like this. Clear direction clear expectation , youre multiplying youre own kindness by raising kind children who will do the same , genuine thank you.
Omg same. Growing up I was always the first one up by like 1-2 sometime 3 hours. All alone, unsupervised, albeit I would stay in my room the majority of the time. I would wait and wait for my mom or someone else like my dad to wake up before I felt like it was ok to get up. Anyways this severely messed up my eating habits. I would from starving to I'm not hungry anymore because my stomach stopped growling and shit. As an adult, 90-95% of the time, my body doesn't tell me that I'm hungry until I've got stomach pains from not eating or drinking anything for like 8 hours.
@@mapache_beloved2728I’m so sorry you went through that! It’s so hard to develop good eating habits as an adult when you weren’t taught them as a child. Have you ever tried food prepping? It’s normally used for body builders or if you’re trying to lose weight, but it could definitely be used for your situation too. If you struggle to know when you’re hungry or full, eat small meals every three hours that you’ve already prepped. You’ll know when it’s time to eat, and won’t have to rely on your body signals. Just a thought. Again, I’m sorry you were treated that way. You didn’t deserve that.
@@bri5155 i usually try to keep track of when I last ate. So like if I eat at 9 am then ill shoot for 1 pm~. It works sort of cause sometimes I'll be hyperfocused on something which then leads to me eating maybe two meals in a day. Point is I am trying to fix it but it's hard considering my day to day schedule isn't fixed at all unlike when I was in elementary, middle or high school.
I grew up in such an abusive home. It warms my heart to see how you are raising these kiddos. You are the parent I strive to be like. Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks. Genius idea btw!
As an introvert I knew what those numbers meant real quickly because being alone in front of the TV while everyone was sleeping was my favorite time of the day😂
We don't have the printout, but we do the same thing! "Tomorrow's a weekend, so don't leave your room unless the first number is 7 or higher." It did backfire one night when she misread the 1 and came into our room very groggy and confused. Luckily she didn't put up a fuss about going back to bed.
We had a similar system when we stayed at my grandparents. They couldn’t force us to sleep, but we weren’t allowed downstairs without an adult and we weren’t allowed to wake them up before 8am (we knew what that looked like on the digital clock). If we woke up before eight we could read, play or talk quietly until it was time.
I had something similar for my kiddo called a gro clock, it was a gift off my aunt when he was born and I swear it saved my sanity. You could program it so it showed a little sun and the face would be yellow, or a moon and the face would be dark /blue if you pushed a button to make it light up depending on the time. Moon meant it was time for sleep, sun meant he could get up and come and get me. He learned to tell the time on it when he got a bit older too. Absolutely brilliant little clock
My brother and I used to be so happy and proud of us playing quietly by ourselves before our parents got up. It was only as adults that we learned that we weren't being quiet at all... but our parents pretended anyway 😂
Well I dont think there's gonna be a fire and they think "huh, it's not 8 yet.... can't get out of bed" She also said because they wake up too early for the parents
@@tabora_well if there was a problem or emergency then they can ignore the digits on the clock. I’m not sure if you read it twice or not. Because you seem to be confused.
My mum taught me how to make my breakfast and told me to be super quiet going downstairs, and to watch cartoons quietly too. I loved it. She was a full time University student. As a student now myself I understand how important those lie ins are :)
No only does mama get to sleep in, but you’re able to actively practice human things with them, without needing to actually be with them. I am seeing self sufficiency, independence, and a happy mama coming out of this❤️🔥
my mom just told us that Saturday chores start when she wakes up, i.e; when she's awake, we're cleaning the house 💀 guess who were perfect little angel children, coloring and playing with toys until 9:00
Growing up my family always had a blanket rule that we didn't get up or make noise until 7am (unless we were going on holiday or something). I'm the eldest and I don't remember a time before this rule existed, it was just part of the fabric of my family. As I got older I was shocked to learn other families didn't do the same. I think it worked so well for us because it was clear and consistent, which made it both easy to understand and easy to follow.
I did the same with my kid, except we bought a cheap analog clock, disassembled it, and color coded the backing before reassembly. (Yes they sell clocks that are already color coded but this was cheaper.) My kid has always been super independent so this worked perfectly from about age 4 and now at 8 I wake up on weekends and find her in my bed reading, having already eaten breakfast. She enjoys the independence (and the solitude too I think as we’re both ambiverts that get overstimulated without alone time). And mornings when I wake up before her she thinks it’s weird and will try to convince ME to go back to sleep. 😂
Love it!! My parents had a stoplight color one for me! Red for stay in bed, yellow for play in my room, and green for go get parents! Worked wonders haha
I had one similar to that haha. The thing is, I've always waken up at 6 am because of school. My parents got it for me so I *wouldnt* get out of bed early. It never worked and the clock broke 😂
I don't know what my parents did when my older siblings were little, but when I (the youngest) was a kid, they trained me to wake up one of my siblings to help me get my cereal and turn on the TV for cartoons, instead of bugging mom or dad. For a stretch of time when I was little, though, I did have the habit of checking on my parents to make sure they were still sleeping comfortably and changing whatever I deemed necessary so they would remain that way. I thought I was helpful, but I've since realized that it definitely just woke them up most of the time
As a parent, yeah, that might have woken them up - but HESRT MELTINGLY SWEET!🤣🫠 These are memories i cherish, as the show my kiddos caring about others as I'd hoped they would. I would guess that your folks feel similarly, (at least now that they actually get enough rest most nights 😉)
You Lady are bloody brilliant and I love you! I'll definitely be buying your book to learn to gentle parent myself 🥰 Thank you for your brilliance and keep it up!
My parents got me to stop waking them up in a similar way. I would get up at like 6 and wake them up to ask if i could watch TV (there was some program on that was on early and i was taught to ask to use the TV). Eventually they got so fed up with me that they just said "once it's 7:00 you can go downstairs and turn on the TV without asking/waking us up" and every day i would stare at my clock for 20ish minutes until 7 when i would (quietly) run downstairs to watch whatever
We were supposed to ask too but none of us kids ever did. We just quietly went downstairs at whatever time and turn the tv on with the volume low. Parents were sleeping so it's not like they ever knew 😂
I just taught my eldest how to pour her own bowl of cereal and how to work the tv. She's 6 1/2, so she's old enough to be that much independent. She has her own kids channel on the Disney app, so there's no issue with her watching anything she shouldn't. This allows me to sleep until either I wake up or the baby wakes me up.
This is where we are headed. My 6 almost 7 year old insists on mothering our 4 year old (when I give the okay) so on the weekends I hear them get up, she’s picking out outfits for him lol, goes downstairs and they have an area in the pantry of approved anytime snacks which she gets for both of them and then puts the tv on for them both. She decided to do this all on her own and takes great pride in doing it. Trust me I’m not parentifying her as I had friends who couldn’t come out to play because they had to watch their siblings and I never want my daughter to feel that way.
@@calicocritterscrafts886My big sister was like this! Make sure you're noting that no expectations are being placed to do this, and that you're having conversations you really detail notate, or just record it, because that eldest child "I'm going to be the caregiver too" turns into "I did EVERYTHING for you when we were growing up" between 15 and 30, depending on the personality and if younger sibling takes a significantly different life path or struggles and older sibling doesn't understand. I'm not the only one this has happened to, I know dozens of second or third children who had their eldest sibling behave like this, both in childhood and adulthood.
@@calicocritterscrafts886 There's a difference between forcing not-age-appropriate responsibilities on a child (which can lead to parentification), and allowing a child to take responsibilities they want to have. Of course, the parent should still watch to make sure the child isn't abusing their responsibility or that the responsibility isn't negatively impacting them, but so long as neither of those are true, allowing a child to hold responsibility they want to hold will only help them build skills they'll need in the future. That's very cute of your child. I imagine she's trying to mimic you and show her love for her brother, which are very age-appropriate things to want to do. It's very cute and shows she is learning responsibility and empathy.
@@calicocritterscrafts886 that is so cute! Just make sure this is a weekend thing and not an everyday kind of thing (unless you're rushing them to school and need a bit of help in the morning).
@@calicocritterscrafts886 As long as you're allowing your daughter to be a kid (and you definitely seem to be), there is absolutely nothing wrong with also allowing her to learn responsibility. I think so many times, especially these days, we parents forget that we're not just raising children - we're raising _people_ that will one day be adults. Life isn't always fair, it isn't always fun & games; it's also hard work & a lot of responsibility, even when it's a responsibility we don't want or don't want to do in that moment. We can't teach this later, we must teach this young or it becomes an extremely difficult lesson for all involved - especially the child. I'm also just some stranger on the internet, but as a fellow mom (and a grammy to a 3 yr old), I think allowing your daughter to explore her natural instinct to care for her younger sibling is a beautiful thing. She will probably be a mother one day, what she learns now will play a significant role in how she handles things in the future with her own kids. Kids this age are building their personalities, they're strengthening the foundation that they need for the rest of their lives. A foundation they might fall away from for a bit, but usually turn back to one day when they've settled down & grown up. Allowing her to explore these sides of herself & teaching her responsibility in the process will go a long way. Don't ever feel bad for that! 😊
I did a Mella Clock for my son when he got his toddler bed. The light on it turns yellow when he can play quietly in his room and green when he can leave his room. We never had any trouble with him getting us early, though some mornings he's not very good at playing quietly. It was more expensive than a plain clock but it's been worth every penny. It also keeps time for naps so we don't have to spend all of quiet time telling him how many more minutes he has until quiet time is over.
That probably costs more money than a normal alarm clock and some papers, and it may be too complicated for some children, but still a good suggestion!
Alternatively, getting an analog clock and coloring in different "zones" can work and is usually cheaper - for little kids, make the hour hand stand out (paint, glitter, stickers) so they know which one has to be in the zone
4 is the magical age when my kiddos started to grow up a bit .(not all kids but my experience).and you get tiny breaks .My son woke up at 6 am always..on Saturdays he would get himself a bowl of cereal and watch cartoons when he was 4 and let me sleep..
We have lights on timers in the living room where the TV is. They need to stay in bed until the lights come on, and then they're allowed to QUIETLY watch cartoons. If they fight, have volume too loud, or if anything wakes mum and dad up, TV goes off. Started it when youngest was 4-ish. Works amazingly most weekends!!
This is such a great idea! I love that you talk about it with your kids the night before so that they can ask questions and better understand why you chose the number (hour) that you did.
You my friend are a genius that was one of my struggles mine was if my eyes are closed get your snack off the kitchen table if my eyes are open we will have a good breakfast and for those hangover days because I did have some as a young person if my eyes are open press play on the VCR if my eyes are closed go upstairs press play on the big TV
Never thought about doing that with kids. Definitely works imo. This definitely does 3 things: 1) kids can learn numbers 2) kids can learn time. 3) parents can wake up in the morning enough to where they can move to get coffee. (When kids are big enough they can bring coffee to their parents)
I hide the TV remotes in my bedroom. It forces my son (who is the only that gets out of bed early) to go back to his room and play. If I don't then he watches TV and thanks to ADHD he walks and/or hops around while doing so.
I was a bit younger than that age when I started to get into shenanigans before everyone was awake. Once I fell in the pool and thankfully the dog saw me go in and I didn’t shut the back door so when he started barking and raising heck my dad ran out there to see what was going on and found me. Once I got my hair caught when I was trying to spin in the swing and my neighbor that got up super early heard my tiny “help me”s from her yard and woke my parents up. I was told not to bother anyone when I woke up before them but not what I was allowed to do if I did, so I chose to get into mischief 😅
Christ you were stupid/reckless. When we were very little, sometimes we got up before 6 AM. We just went, turned on the TV, and watched Zoboomafoo on PBS (Kids).
So entertaining, and great life hacks too. It’s just now I’m 67, kids all grown & gone, wish I’d had your wisdom way back when. Just remember the fruit is the last thing you see, keep up the great work!!
My mum did something similar at Christmas, because my brother & I woke at the crack of dawn. We were allowed to open our stockings (which were placed at the end of the bed), but we couldn't leave our rooms until mum woke up. So we got to play with presents as soon as we woke, and mum got to have a lie-in!
My sister and I had to make coffee before we could wake up our parents.😂 Coffee going, we could do our stockings…coffee done, cups of coffee into parents…then the big stuff. My ex and I did the same with our kids.😂
Genius! I am a substitute teacher, and I cannot tell you, no matter what grade the kids are up to 8th gradr, how many times they ask me, “what time is it?” And I stare at them because there’s not only a clock on the wall, they’re staring at a computer with a clock in it, they have these big screen TVs that are whiteboards but when they’re not being used, they have a big digital clock on it that are large for everyone to see. When I point this out, they say they can’t read the analog clock and then I point out that there’s words around the edge to help and not to mention the three other clocks and they have their phone they’re sneaking under the desk. And they kind of giggled,”Oh yeah.”
It's sad to me that they can't read analog clocks. I can *barely* get by on an estimate, myself, and it's been very embarrassing over the years (not for lack of trying, mind you, I can just never seem to get it to stick). With all the advancements in technology and teaching methods, I would have hoped the same fate could be spared of the next generation.
@@Izzy-cp8yt This is very curious to me. I have heard of people my age (27) from other countries NOT being able to read an analog clock well, but in my country (Spain) I've never encountered another person from my generation or older who couldn't. It's just something we were unanimously taught and we take for granted. In fact, almost everyone I know wears a wristwatch, and most of them are analog (except for smart watches, but sometimes even those have an analog setting, and people use it). Whenever someone asks what time it is, it's not uncommon to just show them your analog wristwatch without a second thought. And we still tell time in an analog way, for example: we say "son las tres y cuarto" (it's quarter past three) instead of "son las tres y quince" (it's three fifteen).
@@luciahoneybee I'm from the US (and also 27), and I will say most of my friends are okay to great with analog clocks, however I was homeschooled and I think that had a significant impact on my learning the skill (among others).
I learned analog but I never had to use it regularly or practice it so I can't know what time it is as fast as looking at a digital clock I have to take a few seconds to read out the time on an analog.
@@luciahoneybee my 20 something daughter can read an analog clock but has never been able to wrap her mind around the quarter too, quarter after thing which kills me cause she is so brilliant. But alas there are worse fates
My dad did something similar with us as kids. On weekends we’d get up at the crack of dawn to be able to go outside to play, until he forbade us from getting up until at least 7 a.m. I remember watching the minutes ticking by as we waited, 6:57… 6:58… 6:59… until finally 7:00. We were out of bed the second it hit 7 a.m.
That's an awesome idea! I was wondering why you didnt write the whole time out but as you explained it i realized you're teaching them more effectively by doing it in pieces like that! Such a cool idea
LOL SAME!!! My sister and i would turn it into a mini morning christmas party in our rooms. I cringe so hard that we weren’t allowed to come out and quietly play with stockings until FIVE AM!! 😂 i always wondered why my dad went straight to bed after we finished opening things. Now i get it.
There aren’t many parents that teach their kids to read clocks at 4. That’s awesome. I know some people are going to recommend the clocks that tell kids what’s okay based on color, but you can also just paint a cheap clock so it does the same thing
Aaah I remember spending multiple hours just staring at my clock waiting for it to be 7 so I was allowed to get out of bed. Once I got older and was a Le to make breakfast myself I’d wait until 5am and then spend the whole morning relaxing it was AWESOME
I grew up in the 60s, I learned with analog clocks, during the week little hand and big hand straight down I could quietly wake up Dad being careful not to wake Mom (she worked 2nd shift as a nurse so do not wake before 10:00~ ever), on the weekends little hand on 7 big hand straight up was when the cartoons came on and I was allowed to watch so long as I kept the tv volume way low until after Boom Town.
My parents used to do this with my siblings and me! Usually they used it for naps (you have to at least try to sleep and you can’t get up until this time), but I specifically remember them using it for Christmas morning as well.
The Christmas morning one is good I remember when I was younger I would get my brother up first then my parents but we were never allowed to go to the living room without them But now it’s my parents waking me and my brother up for Christmas because we like to sleep in now not like when we were younger
Whenever i see your videos, not only is it honestly healing my inner child, I'm trying to sheer into my brain anything and everything you do to raise your kids. If I ever have kids, I want them to be happy and be able to feel safe with me. I grew up in an emotionally and mentally unstable household. I felt like I could never go to my parents for anything because somehow I was to blame. My experiences were never validated because apparently I wasn't "traumatized" enough for my problems to matter to them. Basically I had to learn to emotionally and mentally regulate myself via therapist internet. After trial and error and a lot of mental breakdowns I'm doing better, but unfortunately I'm the product if my environment. It's hard, but I know it won't be forever, your vids are truly healing ❤️
I may have a surprising solution... I had this problem as child. I got a watch with digital display, and was often late home because I was not sure which number should follow which, and consequently how many minutes I have left, or something like that. When the hour changed to number I was supposed to recognise and go home i was already late. The solution? Classic display clock with arms. It helped me comprehend the progression of time, and wow, am I glad I can read it, since apparently there are people struggling with that. I'm still always late though. But it might be ADHD. XD
We have a clock that changes colour when it's time to get up. My 2yr old is still struggling at nap time with it but does great in the mornings when his siblings are there to show him how to wait nicely. The older 2 read or play with their teddies they keep on their bed then get up when the owl changes and he joins them. Then everyone comes into my bed for "Morning cuddles".
@Ama♑a🐼 I know? I wasn't complaining? Additionally my older two children had this down before 3. Either way, I was just stating that the colour change clock works well too and is simple for young kids to understand? My 2yr old can understand it if he can see it change, but not upon just getting seeing it yet (The only colour he knows so far is orange because he's a foodie and loves oranges). Idk why a stating of fact got read as negatives towards my toddler. 🤷♀️ For reference, my older kids are 3 and 5.
I thought about doing something like this, but it was easier to just lock our door. My twins usually just wake up and play anyways. We went through a short phase where they would come beating on the door demanding food, I just made sure to have some fruit and nuts available and told them they could pick a snack from the fruit basket if they were hungry. There were several weeks I woke up to the sound of them excitedly comparing what snack they had that morning. "Ooh, I have mistachios and pigs today!" (pistachios and figs) was my favorite.
Omg, I did this for my son 20+ years ago. I considered myself a genius for coming up with this, that makes you a genius! One of the best parenting hacks I put in action. Sweet dreams.
I love your post. Especially at the end..when you say will it work for all families no..but it works for ours. I love it bc I feel like a lot of people think there is only one way to parent and it's not. Just bc it works for you does not mean it'll work for me. Keep up the good work!
This is how you do it. Plus, why buy an expensive one when you can spend, what, 3 cents on a few sheets of paper, 25-50 cents on markers, and boom your done!
I have a clock that turns yellow when half an hour before they're allowed out of bed and then turns green when they can get up. It's saved me so much trouble.
We do this too! I put the number over the minutes so it’s a little easier to compare, and say when the numbers match you’re allowed to get up. My nephew had trouble with numbers and got a colour clock, if it’s red, stay in bed. Yellow, just be mellow. And everyone knows, green means go!
That’s cool. My brother has a clock that changes color when it’s time to get up.. idk how it works or how well it works as I’m not one of his kids. But he seems happy with it :P I like that your way means not having to find and purchase a gadget and starts them learning to read the time tho😊
