Stahlke Adoption

The Trusty Timer

While writing my dissertation, entire days of solitary, unstructured work stretched before me. It was easy to become paralyzed at the enormity of the task, but my professor offered some useful advice: “Partition your day into different activities. Also, change venues now and then. Both of these techniques will help you stay focused.” To accomplish these suggestions, I used a kitchen timer that my aunt in Colorado had given me. It was an effective tool to remind me to change tasks or locations.

I’ve used this kitchen timer a lot with the children, too. Many of their school activities are timed, such as reading or practicing their musical instrument. And with six children, the timer helps me to know when a child’s PSP or PS2 allotment is finished. (For the uninitiated, like me in our pre-kids era, these acronyms mean “Play Station Portable” and “Play Station 2.”) The timer is such a vital tool for me that one of the kids briefly stole it when he/she wanted revenge for perceived unfair discipline.

This morning, I tried using the timer to solve an intractable morning problem—tardiness. Jonathan leaves for Grace with the three older kids, and it is my task to shepherd the younger three to Garfield. Actually, better words would be cajole, push, wheedle, pester, coerce, persuade, and entice. I won’t bore you with the details of my past schemes, but I do rejoice over the one that worked today. I set the timer at 7:30, 7:45, and 8:00, with advance warning for breakfast, teeth-brushing, and walking to the car, respectively. It worked like a charm! The timer took the onus off of me.

Now I have another challenge. I’m alone with the three younger children only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when Jonathan and the older kids leave early for band rehearsal. While Jonathan was interested to hear that the timer was so effective, he asked me not to use it when he is home. The ticking of the timer drives him crazy. That’s one disadvantage of having a composer for a husband--his acute sense of hearing. I’ll have to put on my thinking cap to solve this one, since I very much want that timer for the three younger kids!

posted by Stahlkes @ 10:53 AM