James Van Der Beek Has A Color-Coded Warning System To Alert His Kids When He's Had It

James Van Der Beek is a sleepless dad in parenting survival mode who has developed a very crafty way to get through his baby’s latest sleep regression while managing his brood of other kids, too. The Dawson’s Creek alum recently took to social media to share an adorable picture of his son, Jeremiah (his nickname is Remi), and the color-coded warning system he instituted with his five other children to alert them when he’s lost his cool.

In a recent Instagram post, Van Der Beek shared a shirtless and ponytailed picture of himself holding his cute little baby boy. “So far, I’ve changed six flat bicycle tires. I’ve had wonky RV reservation web sites leave us with no spot for the night. Our baby is going through his 9 month sleep regression - which means we don’t get to sleep,” Van Der Beek wrote.

“We’ve had spilled smoothies, broken glass bottles, tantrums, tears, a crack in our windshield, and I’ve had so many moments of frustration with the kids that we’ve instituted a color-coded warning system to keep them abreast of just how little patience I have left, i.e. ‘Guys, I’m at an orange, please put your shoes on!’ (Pretty sure this is not great parenting but it is a survival tactic).”

“And in between… we’ve stumbled into moments of pure joy. Of discovery. Of freedom. It’s amazing how life can surprise you if you and remain dogged about not getting stuck in a moment. Because sometimes… the magic lies just on the other side of chaos,” Van Der Beek captioned the post.

Van Der Beek shares 11-year-old Olivia, 10-year-old Joshua, 8-year-old Annabel, 6-year-old Emilia, and 4-year-old Gwendolyn with Kimberly, his wife of more than 11 years. He’s a super supportive husband who has opened up about the couple’s multiple pregnancy losses in an effort to reduce the silent stigma of miscarriages.

The actor, who lends his voice to the Disney show Vampirina, often shares his inspiring and relatable pearls of wisdom on parenting and is also proud to show-off the pink manicure that his precious daughter polished all by herself. Van Der Beek keeps it real when it comes to the ups and downs of raising such a big family, which is a welcome moment of social media solidarity for overwhelmed parents everywhere.

And as for the color-coding — it might seem a little unconventional, but Martha Stewart would certainly be proud of this organized Dad Move.