Yes, I know, it has the Princesses on it, but believe me, it’s the best fifteen bucks we’ve ever put in Disney’s pocket. For Frannie’s birthday we bought this alarm clock from the Avon catalogue, and it’s worth every penny. Now of course, any digital clock would do, although this one does have the cool feature of lighting up when tapped on top — which is also good because it doesn’t brighten the room at night unnecessarily.
The first thing I did once the gift was opened was print a digital-looking number 7 on a piece of masking tape and stick it under the hour spot on the clock. We gave Frannie strict instructions that unless that number says 7, it is in fact not time to get up yet, and there is no point asking. This idea could also be adapted for an analog clock (and let me tell you, as a teacher I see firsthand the lack of experience kids have with analog, yet of course my kid’s first clock is digital. Another ‘do as I say, not as I do’ suggestion!)
It took a couple of tries for Frannie to realize that the location of the 7 is important (i.e. 5:27 is not wake-up time) but now we can count on her to call out (at 7:00 on the dot) “IT SAYS SEVEN!” If only Maggie were old enough to work with this. I wonder if they make a crib-mounted version?
We have tried a siilar idea. Though 6 was the magic number at our house (we were being woken up at 5:00…baby steps!). We covered the minutes with tape so our 2 year old could only see the hour and wouldn't be confused and get up at 5:06. We've been known at times to adjust the time so that it's actually far after 6:00 before his clock says it is. He is allowed to get out of bed, but must play in his room if he is up earlier.
There is a clock on the market ( mytotclock.com ) if you're willing to spend $50. The light changes colours to time naps, time outs, reading time, playing time etc. I'll stick with my digital alarm clock borrowed from the spare room.
Nice to know someone else has had to resort to a similar plan.
I love it! This is so smart. I would be tempted to make the 7 an 8 though 🙂
Wait until they can read time from any clock. Then there is no fooling them. Even if it's been dark since 5:00pm they can argue the fact that it's not 7:30 yet so they won't go to bed a second sooner. It's much easiery when they believe whatever you say!
Brilliant! I agree, best 14.99 ever:)