My Parenting Advice...Like You Really Want It

My Parenting advice is for every parent to have a timer. Yes, you read correctly, a timer. And no, I haven't lost my mind. I'll explain...

As most of you know, Emily was "formally" diagnosed with ADHD. So she's been on the mildest form of medication for about 4-5 weeks. I think she is much much better. She is doing great in school. When I picked her up today her teacher says she's been amazed at her progress lately. All of a sudden she's writing not only her two names, (Emily and Ariel), but other kids names as well. She was impressed. It's always fun to hear! So, on to the timer. After her doctors appointment we decided to get serious and get her organized as that is what ADHD kids respond well to. Anyway, I had a thought on the way home. The reason she gets so out of control during time out is because she keeps asking over and over to get up. So we bought a timer and when she has time outs, we set her timer for 5 minutes. The first time we did it, she was quiet as a mouse. When the time was up, she quietly came and we discussed it and moved on. She loved to visually see her time. It was SOOO nice, for her and us. There is now no more whining and crying. She is responsible for turning it off and coming to find us. So we now use it for other things, like we set it a half hour before bedtime, and we're discussing using it for Ally and Bella when they each want the same toy. Setting it for five mins. and then they give the toy to the other person. They all seem to respond really well to it.

So, there you have it. My parenting 101. Definitly not an expert but hey, if something works great, might as well pass it on!