you know what your kids going to tell you a decade from now?

Yeah I kinda do.

It’s true that I won’t know what problems they’re encountering or friendships they’re navigating, but they’re only going to “ask” me to do reasonable things within appropriate boundaries.

They might say they’re embarrassed if I’m around while they’re entertaining their friends, but they’re not going to tell me to go hide in my room because that’s not something children expect of their parents.

To put it plainly, I intend to set and maintain boundaries.

I’m definitely on the younger end for a mother of a 12 year old since I had him extremely early, so I feel like I’d be less embarrassing than other moms.

I kinda don’t really understand this angle.

If you’re 12, I would’ve thought that if your mum is 30 or 60 they’re still an “embarrassing” parent.

Your kid wanting their own space with their friends isn’t a reflection on your relationship with them, it’s just their own growth.

Based on what little information we have, my guess would be that at some point your son has been to someone else’s house and their mother stayed in her room and they talked about how cool that was.

I think the only answer here is to explain that you were looking forward to meeting his friends, but you’ll do your best to give them some space, but you’re not going to be confined to your room.

he told me he was gonna have some friends over, but he asked me if I could stay in my room while they hangout

FR. My kids are just toddlers but a decade from now my kid isn’t going to tell me to stay in my room.

Thanks for your input!

Sadly, this is another solution that would keep the machine closed when not in use so it would get mouldy and gross inside.

Yeah.

I agree the child lock feature seems poorly considered.

I did read somewhere that in the future regulations might require better child locks, or more touches to start a cycle or something. Not helpful to us though.

The item you linked does actually look as though it’s the kind of timer I was looking for.

However, I think I’ve decided to get a smart plug that’s controlled by wifi that will allow me to configure it to just power off once the cycle is done. Tinkering with this sort of stuff will be fun for other uses anyway.

There’s also a specialised child lock someone suggested which I’ve linked elsewhere in this thread. It’s not perfect - it just adheres to the front of the machine and I’m certain that it wouldn’t stand up to even mild interest from a toddler, but it’s something I guess.

I could put a lock on the laundry door no problem, but my concern is that it will get left open sooner or later due to laziness or a guest or something. The locked door will just make that room more appealing IMO meaning that occasionally forgetting to lock the door is almost as risky as never closing the door.

I think the smart plug is the best shot at a “solution”.

Yes I’ve tried it. No it doesn’t work.

It’s not intended to work that way.

Machine is about 5 years old.

LG WD12021D6

Sorry I just… don’t think this is going to work.

This type of timer would be so fiddly to configure every time. It would also turn the power back on at the same time the next day.

Also I’m not usually standing around ready to turn the power off when the cycle finishes.

LG says:

The child lock feature disables control panel buttons and prevents children and others from changing cycle settings during a wash or dry cycle.

This is indeed how it works on our machine.

I’m not sure. Is the candle like a mood lighting thing or a blackout thing? How dark is it without the candle? Are we doing something important or just hanging out? Is the candle scented?

LG

Will get mouldy and gross inside.

Someone else mentioned a specialised product like this:

www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0B4R7NK9V/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWwp13NParams

Oh wow. Thanks.

Obviously I just didn’t know what to search for.

Solved.

There’s a dryer on top of the washing machine so we can’t really raise it.

Also we keep the laundry door closed not the washing machine door.

Or i could, you know… fix my house so a toddlers safety is not dependent on someone remembering to pull a cord?

About 2 minutes after I posted i decided this is probably the best solution.

I’m big into self hosting but have been resisting the urge to open the home automation box because I’ll never close it again.

That said, it’s an obvious solution to this dilemma.