15 May 2013

Kids hang their own coats with the help of stick-on hooks

At Amazon: Command hooks
At Amazon: Command hooks
Michelle's hack illustrates how simple home tweaks can make a big difference to your kid's independence:

My son is 3-1/2.  We recently bought a new house and we managed to train him to take off his shoes and coat and put them in the coat closet. But his coat would just get left on the floor. Not really his fault since he can't reach the hanging bar.

My husband didn't want to put coat hooks in the foyer for fear that our main entrance would be a mess (he's one of those tidy husbands). So we went all winter picking up and hanging our son's coat ourselves.

Then the light bulb went off. I put one of those nifty, stick-on hooks on the inside of the closet door at my son's height and presto! He was hanging his own coat in the closet the next day!

I've shared my love of Command self-adhesive hooks and hangers before. You can use them all over the house (and I do, as detailed here). The best part is that you can remove them without damaging the wall or door finish.

As an aside: I find that preschool teachers are BRILLIANT sources of ideas for kid-friendly room design. My kids went to a home-based preschool and I was amazed by how much they could (and would) do themselves simply because everything was accessible and clearly marked.

Calling all fans of stick-on hooks: how do you use them in your house?

The comments of this post contain a bunch of good Command hook uses as well.

14 May 2013

Mother's Day disappointment? Honest advice for next year.

At Etsy: Mother's Day Card: Shark Attack, by Emily-Bell
At Etsy: Mother's Day Card: Shark Attack, by Emily-Bell
From Mother's Day fail? Lessons learned -- and honest advice for avoiding disappointment next year:

"I hate Mother's Day."

This, from a friend I ran into on the walk home from school. I appreciated her candor but couldn't help feeling sad. What was supposed to be a lovely occasion for her turned into a day of miscommunication, forced cheerfulness, and clashing expectations.

She's not alone. Several people I know felt disappointed by Mother's Day, and I've experienced a few duds in past years myself. This year, however, was wonderful DESPITE our decision to "reschedule" Mother's Day for a future weekend due to a previously-planned school event (why they planned it for Mother's Day I have no idea).

I've come up with some reasons why our Mother's Day works better now. Tough lessons learned from past disappointments, some of which forced me to acknowledge that my behavior (and attitude) were part of the problem.

Continue reading at The Accidental Expert →

13 May 2013

Managing kids' computer use using built-in parental controls

I appreciate this hack from Melissa -- simply, how her family uses the parental controls built into her computer's operating system to manage her kids' computer use. It's easy to overlook the tools we already have right at our fingertips.

What's great about Melissa's hack -- beyond just using both low- and high tech tools and setting the limits -- is that the larger conversation is also happening. Getting along with siblings, sharing, balancing electronic time, getting active...it's all part of the bigger picture.

I know you had a post about timers and other methods of limiting kids' screen time, but I thought I'd share our strategy for the computer. 

Set time limits using Windows parental controls
Set time limits using Windows parental controls
If you have a PC running Vista or higher, in the Parental Controls section of the Control Panel, you can select which hours of the day throughout the week each user can be logged on to the computer. So if each child is set up with a user account, you can set the specific times when they have access to the computer.

For our family, not only does this help us limit total screen time, it has also eliminated the fights between the kids about whose turn it is to use the computer. We have a chart that shows when each person's time slot is, and the computer logs them off when their time expires.

Nobody has access in the mornings before school, in the hour after school (so that there is some uninterrupted homework time), or after 6 p.m. Our weekday schedule is different than our weekend schedule, and during school breaks I often adjust the times to a holiday schedule.

You can also use the parental controls to restrict which websites a child can access. It's not a perfect tool, but works especially well for younger kids. My 5-yr-old has just three sites he can visit (like pbskids.org) and I feel confident that I don't have to monitor every minute of his time.

Though they occasionally whine when their time ends in the middle of a game or video, they have become better at managing their time at the computer. It also forces them to get up and move around, instead of spending all their screen time in a single session.

Just thought I'd share, in case it might be a solution that would work for other families!

Parental Controls panel in Mac OS X
Parental Controls panel in Mac OS X

I use a Mac running OS X, and there are similar parental controls available in the System Preferences.

It's interesting how the conversation about managing kids' screen time changes so quickly. Remember when we used to talk about "setting limits on TV?" The idea seems almost quaint now that screens are a part of everything we do.

How do you manage your kids' computer use? Do you lump "screen time" together or do you differentiate between TV, video games, and Internet use?

We've got a number of screen time management tips at Parent Hacks, including tying video game time to points earned by doing chores, or using a system of tickets.

11 May 2013

Weekend reading + links

Ahhhhhhh. That's the sound of me coming down from a fab time at the Mom 2.0 Summit in Southern California AND getting my working computer back from the Apple Geniuses. Feels like a new beginning all around, you know? Mom2 was the first time I saw Christine in person since...

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10 May 2013

Happy Mother's Day to YOU [giveaway]

Mother's Day is almost here, and I'd like to give you a present. I know you're not my mother, but you are the reason I do what I do here every day and I am so grateful for that.

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09 May 2013

Your new favorite salad: Bacon, Egg and Asparagus on Tossed Greens

Delicious, satisfying, easy, beautiful, fancy enough for company. Even your Paleo and slow carb friends will appreciate this.

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08 May 2013

Perfect hard boiled eggs, only faster!

You can steam eggs on the stovetop resulting in perfect hard boiled eggs in a fraction of the time. Here's how.

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07 May 2013

Homemade mix recipes for baking, seasoning, and giving

Lynne passed along a pointer to "Mix It Up," a blog full of homemade cooking mixes -- recipes that are easy to put together with (mostly) natural ingredients.

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06 May 2013

Potty training tip: Use an empty baby wipe container as a dirty underwear "transporter"

Can there ever be enough potty training tips? I don't think so, especially because the process goes so differently for different kids. Erin shared this eminently practical hack for handling the, uh, fallout.

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30 April 2013

Mom 2.0 Summit, a book signing, and a Cozi thank you

Tomorrow I head to Southern California for the Mom 2.0 Summit, a conference I've been looking forward to since I attended two years ago. Christine and I are speaking, and our talk touches on our roles as both co-authors of Minimalist Parenting and professional bloggers at Boston Mamas and Parent...

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ALL hacks in May 2013 →

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