Our Great Hope

It's a little strange to put so much of your future in the hands (no pun intended) of a piece of plastic made probably in China, but this is what we've come to. Here it is, the sole hope for our sanity. Meet Teach me Time, the talking alarm clock.




Before you realize think that I've completely lost my mind, let me tell you how one of the twins apparently does not need as much sleep as the other. And, this translates into this twin -- who has long since figured out how to dismantle any doorknob obstacle -- coming down to our room at varying unacceptable hours.

Now, I'm a morning person. I was a rowing team in college that meant I got up before dawn for years (for some inexplicable reason.) But there's something completely different about being woken up by a little person who really wants to talk/play at this dark hour, versus waking on my own or even choosing to get up to exercise. I can't explain it, but I'm sure some parent out there has documented this.

Anyhow, we've tried eliminating naps, which has gone fairly well. Both kids are tired in the evening when they should be, but it's the morning that seems to make no sense. Because it seems the later we have them go to sleep, the earlier (at least one of them) seems to get up.

This brings us to putting all of our hopes and dreams for complete sleep cycles into this little guy. It is supposed to change color to let the kids it is "wake up" time and, therefore, ok to leave the room. (If you've ever tried to tell an almost 4-year-old kid that it's not appropriate to get up at a certain hour, you'll know how successful this is.) If this device keeps the twins in bed until a reasonable hour, I'll buy stock in the company. I promise.