"Alert! Teenagers on the stairs!"
That's my voice coming from a new product called Voice Alert, a sort of electronic baby sitter that'll warn you when kids are near the swimming pool, say, or when animals are getting into your trash at the curb. The basic system ($249 at www.voicealert.com) comes with a pair of infrared motion sensors and a wireless receiver.
My two daughters had been sneaking out at night, so I put one sensor outside their bedroom window, and the other near the stairs. I then programmed my screaming voice and put the speaker beside my bed. Not long after, my teens tried to slip out again. Busted.
After about a week, the kids figured out my secret, but that's OK. They haven't found a way around it yet-and I'm sleeping much more
soundly these days.
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