A smart mom who was tired of yelling at her kids to come downstairs to eat has installed a doorbell line for them.
Shelley Walker was tired of calling up the stairs to her three boys that dinner was ready – and being constantly ignored.
The 43-year-old decided to take matters into his own hands and bought three doorbells from Amazon for £11 each and placed one in each nursery of their Essex home.
Now she just rings the doorbell and Toby, nine, Jackson, seven, and Charlie, five, all rush downstairs – reminiscent of the old-fashioned method of ringing a bell or gong when dinner is served.
The mortgage broker says that after installing the device, she no longer has to shout in her house and that her children become 'excited' when she uses the system.
Shelley Walker was tired of calling up the stairs to her three boys that dinner was ready and being constantly ignored, so she installed doorbells connected to the kitchen and their rooms
After sharing her hack online, most praised the innovation and thought it was a great idea, although some wondered why she couldn't just go upstairs
Now she simply rings the doorbell and Toby, nine, Jackson, seven, and Charlie, five, all rush downstairs – reminiscent of the old-fashioned method of ringing the doorbell when dinner was served.
After sharing her hack online, most praised the innovation and thought it was a great idea, although some wondered why she couldn't just go upstairs.
The mother, from Hockley, Essex, said: 'I was tired of shouting upstairs and being ignored and then running upstairs to get the children downstairs for dinner.
'At Christmas I found myself shouting at the kids and they wouldn't come down, and then when I really shouted they would come down and just shout back.
'I thought this wasn't right and there had to be a better way, and then I found the doorbells online.
'I came up with the idea myself and thought this would be a better way to get their attention.
'I put the button on my kitchen cupboard and now they come downstairs much happier and excited that I rang their doorbell.
'They are very easy to use and don't interfere with each other, so I can call each child individually.
'Now when I do that they just run downstairs and say 'what do you need mum?'.
'The combination of a flashing light and 'ding-dong' in their bedroom gets them downstairs very quickly.'
Toby, Jackson and Charlie pictured next to the doorbells in the kitchen
Jackson, seven years old, pictured next to the doorbell receiver installed in his room
Since installing the doorbells in her home, the mom says her house is less angry and she would highly recommend this handy trick to other parents.
And when she shared a video of the system on TikTok, her post was viewed more than 1.2 million times and liked 6,000 times, with users praising the clever parent hack.
She said, “Since they were installed there is definitely less whining and yelling in the house.
“I just ring the bell now and clap and cheer when they come down, instead of yelling at them and making them angry and yelling back.
“It's a happy ding-dong now. I would 100 percent recommend it to other parents. As a parent, I feel like I don't have to yell anymore.
“People told me to just go upstairs, but there are only so many times I can walk up and down the stairs in a day.”
“A lot of people are saying they want to install them in their homes now.”
One person said: 'Wow, best idea ever…now running to the store!'
Another added: “You my love are a damn genius. I'm doing this today.
“I'm so tired of yelling teenagers down for their dinner.”
A third commented: 'I've done this too. Works great… as long as they don't unplug.'
But not everyone agreed, as one user joked: 'Just turn off the WiFi, it works faster.'
Another joked: “Or do you just go up and tell them?”
A third added: 'How big is the house anyway? That doesn't make sense in a two- or three-bedroom house.'
During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, it was often customary in hotels, on ships and in large houses of the upper class to ring a bell or gong to announce that a meal was to be served, as this was every room could be heard.