First up, is my ALL time favorite timer. This timer can actually have three timers going all at the same time. It sits on my kitchen counter and does a lot of work. I can set the timer for two different things I'm cooking and then a time-out timer! Or, it can help me set a timer for when my laundry is done {it's downstairs in the basement so I can't hear when it's done}, another for stuff I'm cooking, and a third one to remind me of when I need to get off the computer and start a new project!
My other timer is in the kids' bathroom. This one is to keep one of my children moving in the morning. This kid is S-L-O-W and DISTRACTED and I have to keep pushing them and pushing to get them out the door! I set it for ten-minute increments {generally} and give the task. It's PLENTY of time and helps keep them moving.
Another timer I have is on my light in the front living room window. I keep this one on from 5 PM to 7 AM. This is nice to have on as a big night light, or when we come home late I can see our house from far off, but mostly it's a good idea to have lights on a timer to keep "bad guys" from knowing if you are there or not :)
I have yet another timer in our family room on a light. This one goes on around 5 PM, off again at 10 PM {our general bedtime}, again at 5:30 AM, and off again at 7 AM. This one does the whole "throw off the potential bad guys thing" but I mostly have it to always have a light on in the darkest part of the house. When we get home from being gone for a long time during the day or from going out to dinner, it's nice to have this one on to see our way through the house. I also have it on in the morning to see where I'm going!
The next one is outside on our deck. This goes on around 5:30 PM and off at 10:30 PM and turns on the pretty lights I've hung around the patio. It is so pretty at night that I love looking out every night to see it!
Another outdoor timer is the one that lights up the kids' playhouse. It's really dark in that area of the yard at night and I have lights all around the outside and on the inside to light it up. We have our family fellowship group here once a month and the kids are outside in the dark playing so this goes on "at dusk" and stays on for four hours after. I can set it however many hours I need - we use it for Christmas lights in December.
OK...so my last timer I'm going to share with you is a secret that I've used on both my kids to get them to stay in their rooms until a specified time in the morning. When my son was just around 2 years old, we moved him up to a "big boy" bed. The only problem with our early riser? Well, he woke up at 5:30 in the morning and came up to our bedroom!! Ummm,that is just NOT going to make it for me! So, I saw this idea about TEN years ago in a magazine and made it into my own way.
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| Adam in his "big boy" bed. He started at 2 years old, but this is when he was 4. |
I bought a timer {digital works best, but the others are fine} and put one of his lamps in his room on the timer {it was a lamp I didn't use much and kept in the corner}. Well, the first time I set it for 5:40 AM. So, when he came up to our bedroom, I walked him downstairs to his room and then laid down with him and "waited" until his light came on and said "OK, time to get up!" Then, the next day I moved it by 5 minutes to 5:45 AM and did the same thing. He is autistic and at the time couldn't even talk....and HE got it in two times! Each day I added another 5 minutes until it was 6:45 AM and he would either go back to sleep or was allowed to "read" books I left him while he was sleeping until the light came on.
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| My daughter in her "big girl bed" at age 22 months! |
It gave me a MUCH more predictable morning - remember I'm a scheduler! I was able to get up at my time {6 AM} and do my Bible study, get myself up and ready, or showered. Once he could read 7:00 on the clock, around age 4, he could wait until then to get up on his own. Viola! My kids STILL aren't allowed to get out of bed {only to go potty} until 7 AM! It's pretty ingrained into them!
So, timers...yes, they are amazing! I have to tell you that sometimes I set a timer and it goes off...my husband will tell me that it's going off and I can't remember WHY I set a timer! Ha, ha! Most of the time I figure it out, though! So, what do you think? Do you use timers a lot, too?
