Works for Us: The Kitchen Timer

Our kitchen timer has never timed anything cooking, ever. My method of timing food is opening the oven to see when it's done. But we do use this timer frequently in our house:

Our kitchen timer's 3 main jobs:

1. Bath Time.
    When I was pregnant with Judah (#5), our oldest girls (Maria & Elissa) were 6 and 4 years old. I knew I'd have my hands full with the new baby when the time came and that juggling all 4 of the other kids would be a lot easier if M & E could do some things by themselves. My #1 goal for them was to train them to do their own baths. I knew they COULD take a bath by themselves. They'd been taught the routine thousands of times. But I just couldn't get them to stop getting distracted in the bath tub (it's so fun in there!) or to get finished in a timely manner, until I thought of using the kitchen timer (ok, so we didn't have one, so we added it to the grocery list :) ). It has been such a great tool! And some of the best $2 I've spent :) And our kids quickly became masters of the 10 minute bath.

2. Chore Time.
Your kids don't dawdle during chore time do they? Their imagination doesn't spring to life when it's time to clean up, right? And I'm guessing they also don't become either silly crazy buddies or worst enemies with their sibling at the exact moment they have a chore, huh? Well, if they happen to, from time to time,-the kitchen timer helps them focus during chores too :) Cleaning the kitchen after meals is the biggest one in our house.

3. When Are We Going To...
"In 5 more minutes" doesn't mean a lot to a little kid. "Here, when the timer dings."-now that's tangible. Our biggest use in this category right now is answering the question "When is quiet-time going to be over?"


The best part about using the kitchen timer is that it eliminates the necessity we feel to nag or remind our kids constantly. They become accountable to the timer, and therefore responsible for their actions in a concrete way.

When you use this:
A-Make sure your child is paying attention-tell them clearly what their task is & how many minutes they have.
B-Give them a clear consequence -make sure it's one you're willing to really give if they don't meet the time.
C-Set them free to be accountable to the timer (& thus their own actions). It's hard NOT to keep reminding them, but don't, they know clearly what to do. Let them fail, so they'll truly learn.

I'm so thankful I discovered this, it's been a huge help in our home!