Do you have a child who gets up before the rooster? Is it pitch black and you can still hear the owls hooting when he or she stomps into your room? We sympathize. Our oldest daughter, Sydney, has always been an early riser. The spring time change was suddenly the bane of my existence. What was once too early at 6am became way, way, way too early at 5am - at least for a while. If Sydney goes to bed later, she wakes up even earlier, so it's not an easy fix.
But at five years old, she really should be able to stay in bed until a reasonable time of the morning. Right?
Enter the "OK to Wake Clock." You set the time for when it's okay for them to wake up and it lights up green at the magic hour. Even though Sydney can read the time, it's much easier to have a green light tell you it's the right time. Especially during the winter when it's still dark at 7am.
The girls get my weekly reminder that, "Look! There's this really cool clock in here and it LIGHTS UP when it's okay for you to be out of bed! Amazing!" They roll their eyes, but it does tend to keep them in bed until 7am as long as I keep at the reminders and there's a consequence if they get up before it's green.
This summer, we hope to teach her that even if the clock is green, she needs to play on her own until everyone else in the house is awake, since she's usually up a good hour before the rest of us.
Do you have any tricks for getting your kids to sleep later? Or to play on their own until it's time for the rest of the family to wake up?