Mother’s Day is a special holiday at Bedtime Board Game because it honors the people who inspired this game and this company. (Well, some of the people. Dads and all other caregivers inspired it, too!) The very first round of Bedtime Board Game was played 17 years ago when tired mom Kelly and her husband Michael introduced their homemade version to their 3-year-old son, Aidan.
As Kelly and Michael tell it:
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away two bedraggled parents looked at the clock every evening after dinner and dreaded what they knew was coming next.
A charming but determined boy decided, every evening, that it was more fun to play with his toys than get ready for bed. What was a tired parent to do? Out of the depths came an inspired idea: Is it possible to make this time fun? Is it possible to play our way through the challenges of getting ready for bed?
The Bedtime Board Game was born. Birds chirped, angels sang, and parents laughed as they watched their son run from toilet to bath to sink to jammies having fun getting ready for bed.
Aidan is in college now, but a few years ago, Kelly and Michael dusted off the homemade game concept to help a new generation of exhausted parents and strong-willed children in their family. Then they began getting requests for the game from other parents in their circles and decided to manufacture it. The Bedtime Board Game company launched, and the first official copy of the game sold in February 2023.
In the few months since, Bedtime Board Game has been named a candidate for a 2023 Good Housekeeping Toy Award, and Kelly and Michael are nominees for a Colorado entrepreneurship award.
But the most gratifying part for Kelly is hearing feedback from Bedtime Board Game moms whose evenings are now a lot more calm, peaceful and fun.
There’s one mom who loves to tell how her toddler son had never picked up his toys without wailing before. But the first night he played the game, he happily did it right away. Then it was the mom who nearly cried tears of joy!
Another says her daughter is so proud of the gems she’s earned completing her bedtime routine that she keeps them in a porcelain dish by her bed where she can see them.
And many moms (and dads) at Denver’s Family Fest commented on how much they love the Cloud Card questions because they prompt a few minutes of meaningful connection and conversation with their little ones during a time of day that is usually anything but meaningful.
Kelly says she vividly remembers the days when the best Mother’s Day gift of all was a smooth, quiet evening and a chance to get a little more sleep.
“Really,” she said, “That’s what I wanted the most.”
So, this year, we want to help give that gift to moms everywhere by offering 20 percent off Bedtime Board Game with the code SLEEP4MOM.
And to all the moms and caring mom-like figures, Happy Mother’s Day.