How I Became The Mom Boss Of My House With A Smart Home

I was so tired, y’all. My toddler is an escape artist, and no crib or baby gate shall contain him. I’ve tried everything you can imagine to keep him from running around the house at night, but nothing worked. I was telling a friend about this when she made what seemed like a kind of radical suggestion: install a motion sensor in his room that will ping my phone and let me know when he gets out of his crib so I can stop him from destroying the house while I sleep.

I’m not gonna lie—I was initially opposed to the idea. But after leaping out of bed one night because he knocked the dog food bowl off the counter in the kitchen and then, by the time I got to the kitchen, found him eating said dog food, I was done. Fine, I’ll start tracking my baby. BRING IT ON. We needed to upgrade our security system anyway. I got in touch with Hive at my friend’s recommendation.

But once I got started, it was like getting a tattoo. I got one thing, and then boom, suddenly I was outfitting my whole house with Hive products. It’s transformed my life.

Bright Lights, Moving Toddler

Yes, the Hive Motion Sensor lets me know when he gets out of the crib, but I got some Hive Active bulbs as well and now my side table light switches on when he gets out of the crib. This wakes me up more gently than a ping on my phone (but still in plenty of time to stop the damage). Plus that way I don’t stub my toe against my dresser as I rush to his room. Sure, I know the dresser’s there when I’m awake, but in the dark? Not so much.

Sleepy Lights

Last year I read an article about how the bluelight on my phone was likely keeping me from falling asleep at night. Because electric light is so new to human history, we’re more used to the light from candles or fires at night than bulbs. So when I saw that Hive offers a Light Cool to Warm White bulb, I bought a bunch and put them around the living room so as it got dark I could change it to the warm white tone, and sure enough, this helps settle everyone down for bedtime. Yes, really.

Magic Control Of Devices

These handy devices plug into your outlets and then you plug your stuff in and boom, you can turn ‘em on and off from your phone. Super helpful if you’ve ever sprinted to your kid’s room when you hear them crying and left the TV blasting in the living room. You can turn it off with your phone (and even with Alexa, hands free) without leaving your kiddo’s room after a nightmare so they can fall back to sleep in the quiet. Ask me how I know.

No More Dark Diaper Changes

I can use my voice to turn on a light so I don’t have to change diapers in the dark. Because nothing is more annoying than juggling a crying toddler while also turning on a lamp. I put an Echo Dot in his room and now I can just turn on the light with my voice because the lamp is plugged into a Hive plug. LIFE. SAVER.

This setup in other spots is also super helpful if your eco-warrior tween keeps flipping off the hallway lamp that helps guide everyone to the bathroom at night too so you don’t do any toe stubbing. I’m really big on not stubbing toes, folks.

Comfy Cozy Are We

Oh my god, how much do I love my Hive Active Thermostat. We had a typical “dumb” thermostat you had to turn up or down by hand, and I didn’t even realize how annoying that was. I’m a tough sleeper and I need it cool to sleep, and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been trying to fall asleep when I realize it’s too warm to sleep. Now I can just use my phone to turn it down — and I connected a little fan to a Hive plug and I can even turn that on without getting out of bed. Okay, it’s not really about parenting, but a rested mom is a better mom, am I right?

So there you go. My love note to Hive for making my life so much better. It really is great having a smart home, folks. My toes have really loved not being constantly stubbed, I gotta tell ya.

Get a Hive smart home plan, starting at $9.99 a month and make time for the things you love most. Scary Mommies receive 10% off with promo code: SCARYMOMMY

This post is sponsored by Hive, a family of smart products that connect you to home anytime, anywhere, at the tap of an app.