A kitchen timer: a motherhood hack

Today I'm sharing a hack that has really helped me
in motherhood, 

The  Kitchen Timer. 

mom hack, helps in parenting, kitchen timer



One of my biggest challenges in parenting, 
is getting my kids to do what I want them to do, 
WHEN I want them to do it.  

They just don't seem to understand that 
we have to be places at a certain time,
or that things have to be done, no matter what!


"No you can't do one more level on Minecraft."

"No, you can't have 5 more minutes to play 2K17 on the PS4."

"Your make up looks good.  You're going to be late for school."

Honestly, managing them is a full time job.  
But I'll let you in on a little secret that has saved my sanity,
The kitchen timer!


kitchen timer. mom helps, kids on time


Laugh if you want, but this little puppy is so valuable.


My son takes a bath every morning before school.
He loves to relax in the tub to collect his thoughts 
before starting a rough day of 3rd grade.
I used to nag on him about taking too long.
That is until the kitchen timer.


Now I set it for when he needs to get out, and walk away.
It seriously works like a charm.

He always races to beat the timer.  
And I don't have to get mad at him for taking too long.


I've also used the timer for Time Outs.
When one of my children would misbehave, 
I would put them in time out (our stairs)
Then set the timer for the appropriate time.
When the timer rang, I talked to them about what went wrong
and then we all moved on.

helps for kids doing chores, motherhood hack, kitchen timer


Sometimes (ok most of the time) my kids balk at being asked to do chores.
Even though we do chores every...  single...  day,
it still seems to surprise them and 
there's always weeping and wailing.
So enter- the trusty kitchen timer. 

I set it for 10-15 minutes.
Then bet my children that they can't be done with their chores 
before it goes off. 

Seriously, it works every time.
They race to get done and it becomes a game.
They think I am a hero for inventing 
such a fun game.  Go me! #motherhoodwin

motherhood hack, kids on time


The timer becomes the bad guy.
It's the timer that tells them they have 10 more minutes until bedtime.
It's the timer that let's them have 5 more minutes of playtime.
It's the timer that keeps track of when we have to leave
and sounds the alarm to get us all moving.

The timer is one of my favorite mom hacks!