Interrupted sleep makes for grumpy parents in the morning, and pretty much a bad way to start any day as far as the kids are concerned. But John Zimmerman, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, may have just the thing for moms and dads with the perennial eyebags. Believe it or not, it's an alarm clock that's made specifically to make kids stay IN bed rather than get them out of it.

The Reverse Alarm Clock works like this: instead of numbers, it uses a simple-to-understand Sky Display', made up of sun, star and moon images that light up to tell the time. When the moon is lit, that means children should stay in bed - if it's not, then the young'uns are free to get up if they want, but they have to be careful not to disturb the grownups.

If the sun and and the wakeup music (that parents can set, as well as 'sleeptime' music) plays, then it's time to get out of bed.

This not only teaches the kids good sleeping habits, but it gives the tired parents a full night's rest. Which is a good thing, considering today's dual-income families experience the stress-filled morning rush each and every day, and more so when young children are concerned (as proven by a study of Zimmerman's team of experts).  And with the effects of a healthy dose of forty winks not only obvious the moment you get up from bed, but in the workplace as well - it's not hard to imagine the Reverse Alarm clock giving hardworking mommies and daddies a better, if not drastically-improved state of health and well-being.

Let's hope more of these innovations show up - for the kids' sake and ours!