Scarring my Children for Life?

It is hard to see in this picture, but each of the numbers on this clock is a different color.

One night recently Eliza Claire came into my room at 1:22 am sobbing. Her problem, her clock had fallen off her night stand and "broken" and now she didn't know what time it was. She "needed" to know what time it was! I had to get up dig the clock out from under the nightstand, pop the battery cover back on, and set it where she could see it again. Then she was happy to go back to sleep.

So why is a three year old so obsessed with time? Well, because her parents are very schedule and rule oriented. Eliza Claire is not allowed to leave her room in the morning until there is a green seven. If she can't see her clock, she doesn't know when there is a green seven. If she doesn't know when there is a green seven she can not leave her room. This is a problem as Eliza Claire does not want to be in her room forever.

A day or two after this happened I heard her talking about the time again and was once more reminded of how unusual it is to have a time conscious three year old.

I truly hope I am not scarring her for life, hopefully she will just always be a punctual individual.
Jenn


PS. Target carries this clock the numbers are red, green, red and yellow. This is the perfect clock for young children as they don't have to remember which number is the hour number, they just have to be able to recognize the color and one number, for us the green seven. A yellow seven does not work, only a green one.