Taking Turns - what works for us

An egg timer... such a simple device to have such magical power!! Mommy is no longer the bad guy - it's that pesky timer.

It took a few turns but I quickly had my kids trained to accept the egg timer as a deliverer of justice and equality. I think it works because it's visual and tangible, and therefor predictable. They don't need to be able to tell time - they just need that built in human clock that will tell them that the :15 Mommy set for little brother feels like the same amount of time as the :15 that was set for big sister. Fighting solved.

It is so effective a tool that it has almost taken on "Pavlov's Dog" powers... I can make my son hand anything over to his sister by discretely advancing the timer and simply making it ring.

Now if only I could figure out how to get the timer to make them eat broccoli.

The First Post...

...and of course, it's bedtime!! Specifically for my 3 year old (son). My 5 year old daughter gets to stay up an extra hour, although with spring break in effect they've both been staying up later.

Off I go to play Mom... I just wanted to get this blog started. See you again soon!