Things I wish were invented...

MargaretMcKen! I like the way you think!

While you wait to talk about clocks with your engineering friend, here is another lower-tech suggestion. Clocks aren't expensive. By three identical clocks. Set one early, for the morning, one late, for the evening, and one correct for the middle of the day. Swap them around when mother isn't looking!

Freqflyer, I thought it might be interesting to see about the extra remote, so I just took hers into my room. I didn’t work through walls. Does make sense though too many remotes in homes & apartments. I watch her via a nanny cam, she’d awaken & want to chat, eat, watch tv if I went physically into her room. I have her bedroom clock set 20 mins earlier but some overcast days I think if I could set it remotely 1 hour earlier she’d stay in bed. My mom doesn’t get up because she’s done sleeping, she wakes because she needs to pee & then wants breakfast & coffee—6,7,8,9. If it’s before 6 she’ll go back to sleep. I can’t go back to sleep once I wake up. If I could have the clock say 5 at 7 I think she’d fall for it & sleep a few more hours. Some nights she’s nodding off in the living room at 6 but says it’s too early to go into her room so those nights I could set it to say 9pm but switch it back before morning. After I posted this I did look to see if maybe a remote controlled clock existed & they do but same thing, I need to be in front of it to change it.

Momshelp, is your Mom's TV and the other TV's on cable? Call the provider and get a second remote that is in tuned with Mom's TV. Whether it would work through the walls, that is hard to say. But it seems like you are checking in on Mom, thus you know she is asleep, use the second remote when you check on her.

One reason remotes aren't stronger is that if one lived in an apartment, the remote could possibly turn off another resident's TV in error.

One could also try using a timer on the TV, where if Mom tends to doze out at 9 pm, the TV will automatically turn off via the timer. My TV in my bedroom will automatically turn off after 2 hours of none use of the remote, it is built into the TV set. I could re-set it to turn off after 1 hour of none use.

Volume at 75, good grief, that would cause me to go screaming into the night.

The clocks, can you set Mom's clocks a half hour later to see how she does with that? If ok, then later set Mom's clocks an hour later. If one day Mom notices the clock in the kitchen is different, just say you will need to fix the clock.

MargaretMcKen, you sadly lost me at gizmo! Business opportunity for your hubby though. I do have access to someone with an engineering degree, so maybe I’ll bring it up next time I see him. No tech savvy teens or maybe they’re savy enough to hide their talents:)

My DH says that the clock is a piece of cake, do-able for under $20 with components from Ebay (OK plus an electronic engineering degree or a tech-savvy teenager). You buy a gizmo that combines a ‘real time clock’ with a separate display, and program the display any which way you want. You could program it to show Big Ben London time, or to show earlier mornings and later evenings. He says just don’t assume that mother is never going to work out the tricks! A new business opportunity?

Oh for a recliner that was never affected by pee, no matter what the pee just bounced right off and you never felt or smelled a thing!
Okay, back to reality, but I enjoyed the thought.....

Snoopylove, that’s a great idea! How about a Channel we program like a YouTube channel. Unfortunately I’m tech deficient but that would be great.
rocketjcat, Alexa & echo is a thought. I have an echo I received as a gift a couple of years ago but that’s when mom got sick & I started spending 6 nights a week at her house. I never set it up. I’ll find it & see what I can rig up. Keep thinking for that clock :)

Momshelp...I like your ideas. The remote to turn off your moms tv from another room could possibly be accomplished using Alexa with an amazon echo dot. We turn our lights on and off with that using voice command when we’re in the house, and can do it remotely using the app on my phone. You probably could plug her tv into an Alexa compatible outlet and control it remotely. Maybe even the volume.
No ideas on that clock tho!

I would like an upbeat newscast for seniors. Nothing fake, but all the bad news omitted, lots of local color about nice young people, interesting civic happenings, cute animals, etc., and some not-too-hyped up weather and sports reports.

I like your make-believe inventions!