Dad tricks toddlers into early bedtime with a silly, rigged game — now every parent wants to try it

Getting kids into bed on time isn’t easy, but one Arizona dad may have just unlocked a new parenting hack… or at least a brilliant prank. Sean Motsch devised a great plan to skip the bedtime struggles and get his daughter Savannah to agree to sleep early. But instead of arguing or bribing her, he made bedtime feel like a game of chance. Sean crafted a rainbow-colored “prize chart” with three tempting options. 

The video was uploaded by the mom of the two kids to her TikTok account, which goes by @km31mom, and which has racked up 15.7 million views on TikTok alone. The video was captioned, "I laugh harder and harder the more I watch." The chart had three winning items: A shopping trip where Savannah could pick out anything she wanted, $100 cash, or an early bedtime. He slid the chart under a springy doorstop and told Savannah to flick it. Wherever the doorstop landed, that would be her prize. What she didn’t know was that the doorstop could only bounce to one spot, right in the middle, where it said early bedtime.

Excited and full of hope, Savannah flicked the stopper. But her face quickly went from joy to shock when she realized what she’d actually won. The six-year-old immediately burst into tears, jumping up and down, begging for another spin. Her baby sister, Jane, watched on as the drama unfolded. Her mom, Kristine, caught the whole thing on video and told What’s The Jam, “Her face when she realized it landed on bedtime was hilarious. She did cry, but we were laughing so hard. Sean is a total prankster, it’s how he shows love.”

The video quickly made the rounds online, with people both laughing and warning the parents that they might’ve accidentally awakened a tiny gambler. @malkeezy joked, “Therapist: ‘Savannah, when did your gambling addiction start?’” While @L.A.S.Tadded, “She said quadruple or nothing.”@skeet_mane chimed in with, “Better keep her away from a casino when she grows up.”@jonathanchazarvani pointed out, “The younger sibling is smart and moved the paper.” And @sterling perfectly summed it up with, “AGAIN, ohhh poor baby is hooked already.”

Modern parenting is leaning more toward playful strategies, sometimes called “gentle trickery,” which use humor and surprise instead of pressure or punishment. Dr. Laura Markham’s work on peaceful parenting highlights that children are far more cooperative when parents remain calm and make decisions feel like a shared experience. By letting Savannah feel like she was making a choice, even one designed by him, Sean avoided a meltdown and reinforced trust, turning bedtime into a shared, joyful ritual rather than a battleground.

Experts say resistance at bedtime often comes from deeper biological needs; kids simply aren’t ready to disconnect. It emphasizes that consistent, calming routines help signal to children that it’s time to wind down and sleep. That’s exactly what Sean’s game achieved: by wrapping bedtime in excitement and play, he transformed a nightly struggle into a moment of anticipation.

For more videos like this, you can follow @km31mom on TikTok!