My New Favorite Parenting Helper

Can you guess what my new favorite parenting helper is? Yep, it's the microwave timer! I found myself using it twice yesterday for different purposes.

When Gabe has to take a few minutes to collect himself, I have him sit in a chair. The problem is that he REPEATEDLY asks OVER AND OVER AGAIN, "Can I get up, Mom? Can I get up?" He has a high-pitched voice, and while he's cute and all, it can drive a person up the wall quickly. So I set the microwave timer and tell him to listen quietly for the beep, and then he'll know he can get up. It doesn't work perfectly every time, but it's loads better!

The microwave timer is also handy when giving kids choices. For example, I asked Ladan if he wanted to put the silverware away "now or in 5 minutes". Often enough I ask my kids to do things immediately, so when possible, I like to give them some options about the unfolding of their day. It's Ladan's new job to put the silverware away, and he was in the middle of playing, so I gave him a choice between stopping what he was doing immediately to put it away or playing for 5 more minutes before doing his job. He chose to wait 5 more minutes. So I set the timer, and he knew when it beeped that it was time to get to work. It also freed me up from watching the clock and seeming like I was nagging him to stop and do his chore. Nice.