If you’re a parent that has mistakenly gone down the Elf On The Shelf path, I’m sure you’ve been in the situation where youve had a glass of six of wine and gone to bed forgetting to move the little bastard. Then to be woken up to the disappointment of your little crotch goblins wondering why the elf didn’t move. I’ve come up with a solution that hasn’t failed me yet.
Now, I know this exact solution won’t apply to everyone, but it should at least get your years grinding on how you can use your smart home to remind you to move it.
I have an Inovelli wall switch that the LED light on it can be used as a notification in my bedroom. In my case, at 9pm every night, it goes to full brightness and flashes red…it’s pretty bright, I can’t miss it. This is my reminder to move the elf. Once I do, I clear the notification and it goes back to normal.
Why not just say a phone alarm? Home automation is cool, but simple tasks still work
I started with a phone alarm. But when I’m in the kitchen, or at a friend’s house, or pretty much anywhere, or my kids are still awake, I have to silence the alarm at 9:00, I can’t just let it continue going off until I have a chance to move it. If I silence it, then if it’s 3 hours later I go to bed, I’ll have forgotten about it. A phone alarm simply didn’t work.
So set it for a time that’s after your kids go to bed, but before you typically do?
What the hell good does a flashing red light in your bedroom do if you’re commiserating over a few beers at your friend’s house?
Set 2 or 3 alarms on your phone, if need be.
Fuck, this post is almost as bad as /r/AskElectronics when someone asks how to replace a simple switch on a kid’s flashlight, and a dozen new-grad EE’s come up with Arduino and Raspberry Pi “solutions” to a broken wire on a slide switch.
It stays red…until he resets it… it’s a better solution.
He can be at his buddies place, it turns red, he forgets but when he gets home before bed, it reminds him.
If an alarm goes off when he’s at his buddies he turns it off and forgets.
It’s not that hard to understand the difference. Calm down.