Lamp on a timer

Forgive me if I have posted on this before, but honestly I can't remember if I have and it is a worthy topic to post or repost : )

At our house wake-up time is 7am.  It is fine if you sleep past then, but kiddos out of bed before that is not the best start to my day.  Call me selfish if you must, but I need that time to myself, to read my Bible or take a shower or if need be, sleep!

I fully recognize that it is hard for kids to want to jump out of bed as soon as they are awake, especially for little ones that can't tell time yet.  Here is an idea that was passed down to me from a fellow mama when H was little.

Put a light on a timmer in their room.  No need to set an alarm that could wake them if they might just happen to sleep in.  But a small lamp shouldn't wake someone up.

We bought these timers from Amazon.
I set it up in Bug's room to a lamp on her dresser.  Her lamp turns on at 7am, when it is okay for her to get out of bed.  She happily comes and finds us and our day starts out smoothly!

H-man can tell time so in his room we have a clock setup.  And B is too young to understand, but lucky for me he tends to sleep in!

teaching responsibility

I realized recently that I haven't done a great job of teaching H to be responsible for this things, messes, or his time. He was my only kiddo for 3 years so I had the time and ability to clean up after him, constantly remind him to stay on task, bus his plate, and to put things back where they belong. I don't have that ability or time anymore and I really do not have the desire to carry on like that. You see he is 6, and I find myself constantly saying "H, don't forget to do...." or "H, please pick up your room..." or "H, I asked you to get ready for bed, why are you sitting on your floor half dressed?"

Part of it is personality, and unfortunately part of it is training or lack there of. I thought I was on track during his little years, however I have started to see some area where I could have done so much better. For example, until H was 4 I never had him clear his plate from the dinner table because I was afraid of him spilling leftover food and crumbs along the way to the sink. With one kiddo it was easy to pick up that one extra plate. However now with 3 extra plates, 3 more sets of silverware, 3 half-full cups, I can't get it all in one load... and besides that the far grander motivation is that as a mom one of my main jobs is to train my kids to be responsible adults some day.

So how am I doing it differently with the little two.
1. B and Bug both bus their own plates... under these simple rules, hop down first from your chair, 1 thing at a time, 2 hands, careful walking, dump food in trash, then plate in sink or on counter.
2. Bug is making her own bed (most everyday)
3. All kids help dust-bust the floor under the table after meals
4. Even B-man at 18 months has chores he helps with... putting away shoes, wipping the floor, putting toys away.

We are working hard with H on being responsible, orderly, proactive, and tidy But it is not catching on as much as we have hoped. We are still far from having this perfected with any of our kids, there is so much room for growth... but I hope that you mama's of just one or two little kiddo(s)... spend your time teaching them to be responsible! Trust me re-training is SO much more work than training the first time!

The sayings of Bug

from the mouth of my 3 year old-

Mr. Steady came home with super glue, and Bug started asking about it, "daddy, what is this?"
"It is really sticky glue."
"What is it for daddy?"
"Well all kinds of stuff Bug."
"Like for your armpits?"

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For some reason when my kids are tired they get hick-ups.  Yesterday Bug asked me, "Mama, why do I keep getting these hicky-ups?"  Umm, Bug, they are called hick-ups!"

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Bug's platinum blond hair is starting to grow in darker.  Yesterday she asked me, "Mama, do you want to take a picture of my roots?"  I think she has heard me talk to Courtney too many times about needing to get my hair done : )

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At thanksgiving we were driving home from Utah and drove past a farm.  Bug said "it is so stinky!"
"Babe, it is just a farm."
"Why do they have skunks on the farm?"

Okay, so maybe these are only funny to us...

Prison Break

Last night when I was cooking dinner Bug asked if she could go wake up B-man from his nap. I told her "Sure Babe, I will be right up to get him."
H excitedly followed Bug up to B's room. I heard them giggling on the monitor as I quickly threw together dinner.
It got quiet for a minute, so I looked over on the video monitor... and what did I see... a jail break!
H had climbed into B's crib, picked up B under his arms and was lowering him down to Bug.  I was too late to do anything about it.  Within a minute all 3 happily came down the stairs, as if everything was totally normal.

I acted totally surprised when the 3 of them rounded the corner into the kitchen.  I asked, "How did B get out of his crib?" And they told me move by move how they did it.  Not realizing at all that they had done anything wrong, and actually quite proud of themselves for the successful jail break!

I thanked them for being careful with their baby bro, but told them to never do this again.  Getting kiddos out of cribs is Mama's job : )

I must say, I was encouraged by their teamwork and thankful for careful execution!  Oh, and I'm glad I have a video monitor... I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on seeing them in action... though I will make sure it never happens again!