Yep, I know, another kid post. Well, my 8 month old wants me to be with her every waking second of the day and yells at me after ignoring her for too long just doing laundry or dishes - so you can imagine how I don’t get to the computer ever- or get to cook too much beyond Trader Joe’s pre-made stuff. Thank God for Trader Joe’s! This baby also likes to wake me up at night a few times and my three year old was waking up at the crack of dawn. O would turn on the lights and play trains or something until he was wide awake - so no chance for going back to sleep- and then come in to my room at 5:45 after I had already been up a few times with my baby. Ahhhh! This pattern was really wearing on me so in desperation I found this clock.
The clever staff at One Step Ahead has my back. They also saved my baby from more foot and leg trauma and less sleep with the breathable bumper- but that’s another long story. Back to the clock. My three year old LOVES this thing! First of all, the nightlight is yellow - his favorite color. You can easily set the light to change to green when it is ok to wake up in the morning. I set it at 7:30- and so for awhile there he went from waking up at 5:45 to 8:00!!! He would look at it, see yellow, and go back to sleep! Then, after awhile he started teaching himself time. He figured out that if the clock said 7:00 and after, I would allow him to get up but if it was before 7:00 I was pretty stringent about him sleeping more. Also, before 7:00 after being up a few times in the night I’m pretty cranky. So, he started getting up around 7:15 even though his clock turns green at 7:30. However, he’s not pushy anymore to hurry up and do his stuff because he knows he’s up before the light turns green and so he’s patient now.
The downside is napping. He also learned that even if he doesn’t nap, he can have quiet time from 2:00-3:00 and 3:00 is the magic time that I will allow him to do whatever. So, now naps are pretty much out of the question since he can do whatever he wants after 3:00! Oh well, at least he’s learning those times of the day and understanding what it means.
Anyway, I highly suggest this clock to all you fellow tired moms who have kids like mine that think the sun rising means it’s time to wake up. It has been a lifesaver for me. If only I could figure out a way to get my baby to sleep throughout the night and stop waking up for another bottle at 4:00 or 5:00. But, I can handle and a couple of other little wake-ups if I can at least sleep a little more. Before I got the clock it was honestly brutal between the two of them.
In other news, I’m excited because I decided to take on Saucy Mama sauces again! They proved inspirational to me before with those yummy hot wing sauce crunchy garbanzo beans. While my baby doesn’t really allow me to do anything - I’ve decided that I need to get in the kitchen again or I just may go nuts. So, after all this time of relying on TJ’s and other quick methods, I’m going to get creative again with sauces, yay!!!! Can’t wait to cook again, even if it means I get yelled at the whole time by an 8 month old. Oh well, she’s cute.
