4 Reasons Busy Moms Need Amazon Alexa in Their Lives
This post was sponsored by Amazon as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Finding the right tools and creating the best systems to keep our sanity as a mom isn't easy.
Whether it's meal planning to make sure we stay within our grocery budget, or a system for keeping paper clutter at bay, having the right tools makes a huge difference in our productivity and sanity.
That's why I was super excited to learn how Amazon's Echo Plus integrates with systems we already have in place!
Who Needs Alexa?
Moms need Alexa.
When moms come home from grocery shopping and their arms are full of toddlers and bags, they can open the door and say, “Alexa, kitchen light on.” Alexa will turn on the Philips Hue Smart Lights so they can see where to set everything.
What Can Alexa Do?
What can't Alexa do? That is the better question. Busy moms need Alexa in their lives. Here's why:
1. Alexa makes it easy to wake up in the morning.
A fun way I found to wake up the kids in the morning was to have Alexa set an alarm. It was super easy to set up! “Alexa, set a weekday alarm for 7:00 am.” You can even ask her to play a specific genre of music like Pop, Classical, or Disney Classics.
2. Homework time is painless.
When it's time for homework, I say, “Alexa, play Mozart” and she does! No more whining and complaining from the kids. It's made a world of difference in the atmosphere around the table during homework time.
3. More time together.
One night, we even put on pajamas and gathered on the couch to listen as Alexa read to us chapters from our audiobooks on Audible. We love listening to Anne Hathaway read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Next up, A Christmas Carol!
4. Making brushing fun again!
At night before bed, brushing their teeth at night got ten times more fun because they can say, “Alexa, set a timer for two minutes.” It's that easy!
Also, I can ask Alexa to add items to our shopping list! I can then pull up the list through the Alexa App on my phone once I get to the store.
Setting Up Philips Hue Smart Lights
Expecting that it would be hard to set up, I waited for days to finally put in the Philips Hue Smart Lights and connect them to Alexa.
I couldn't believe how easy it was! Now our lights in the kitchen dim without adding in a dimmer switch. I can even turn one off and the other on. It's pretty great.
Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and go to the kitchen for a glass of water? Alexa makes it easy! All we need to do is say, “Alexa, light one on” and we can see where we are going.
Sometimes at night, I say, “Alexa, dim light 1 to 25%” and “Alexa, turn off light 2” as we prepare for bed.
I love how Philips Hue Smart Lights work with Echo Plus – especially how easy they connect with one another. To install them, literally, all I had to do was screw the lightbulb in and turn on the power at the light switch. Then, I said, “Alexa, discover my devices.”
That was it!
Next, we're going to get a Smart Plug for the hot pot so I can set up a routine with Alexa. When I say “Alexa, Good morning,” she will turn on the hot pot, the lights will come on, and she will tell me the latest news and weather.
It's going to be awesome.