Thanks for the Idea Candy!!

My friend, Candy, has used a light and a timer in her kids' bedrooms to let them know when they can come out. The light turns on a specific time and then they know it's okay for them to get up. If they wake up and it's not on yet then they know to go back to sleep or stay in their rooms quietly until it does turn on. I always thought this was a great idea! If you were an early riser, you could even use this idea to get up before them and get stuff done. On the other hand, if you're like me, you could use it as a way to make sure that you get to sleep until at least 7:30!

Oliver, lately, has been getting up at all times of the morning. The other day he woke up and 4a.m. and it took quite a while for me to convince him that it was NOT time to get up and watch cartoons. By the time I got him back to sleep and went back to bed myself I never really went back to sleep. It was then that I thought it was finally time to give Candy's idea a try.

We took the boys to IKEA yesterday to look for a fun light or lamp. This is the light that Oliver picked out...
I explained to Oliver that if he wakes up and the star is off and still sleeping then that means that he has to stay in his room. He can go back to sleep or just lay there quietly. When the star is on then he can get up and go watch cartoons. I quizzed him all late afternoon and just before bed as to what he was supposed to do if the light were on or off. Here he is passing the, "What do you do if the star is off?" part of the quiz...
And here he is pretending to get up and stretch so he can head out to watch cartoons because the light was on...
Today was the first morning to put the star to the test and it worked pretty well. Oliver got up and headed out but Noah quickly reminded him that the star wasn't on yet. He quietly went back to his bed and stayed there until the light came on. A little more practice and I'm sure it will work out just fine. Thanks again Candy!