Parent Hacks

Happy New Year, Parenthackers!

Ah, back home after a sunny vacation in Southern California (and copious Twittering from Disneyland!). I'm now cuddled on the couch with husband, kids, and dog watching movies till the clock strikes twelve, but I wanted to pop on and wish all of you a wonderful holiday and New Year....

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Cure for a bitten tongue: an icicle

Brian's just given us the excuse we've been looking for to suck on an icicle! The other night at dinner my little girl accidentally bit the daylights out of her tongue, and the standard owie-remedies were not cutting it. Impromptu solution: Run out to the porch and snap off an...

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Use freebie calendars to make your own custom gifts

Rita's got a great way to turn promotional calendars into beautiful gifts: I have been intending to create a custom calendar with scanned images of my 5 year-old's art projects from school, and photos of events throughout the year, but finding the time to do it has been impossible. I...

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Amazon deal: Big sale on Disney family DVDs through 12/30

If you're all settled in for the winter break and movies are on the agenda, you might like to peruse Amazon's big sale on Disney family DVDs . You'll find some classics (Aristocats, Sword in the Stone), some modern favorites (Mulan, Enchanted), and some popular Disney Channel hits (High School...

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Use window markers to identify party drink glasses

Kari's savvy party hack: At parties and family gatherings, everyone sets their cups down and then wonders, "is that mine?" Wonder no more. I just figured out that you can use window markers on glassware. I wrote my name on one of my glasses and it came off in the...

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On Christmas Eve, let Santa take away the old toys, too

Susan's hack is so many kinds of wonderful, I'll just leave it to you to marvel at her smarts and generosity: In the forever battle to keep declutter our house, Christmas inevitably causes stress, especially when it comes to toys and our 3-year-old. So in our house, we're not the...

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Toddler-proof the Christmas tree by decorating it with her old toys

Mark's practical tree trimming tip: Our darling little girl just turned 18 months before Christmas. Last year she was pretty indifferent to the tree but this year she is all about it. At first we just gave up and the bottom 3 feet of the tree were just bare. Then...

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Reusable gift box can be "opened" over and over

Janey's hack takes the reusable gift bag idea to a new level! Every year we give our kids one present each for every night of Hanukkah. Last year we went thru tons of wrapping paper and tons of time spent wrapping - this year we got smart. We've been using...

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Christmas Wrapped: Time to let go and enjoy the holidays

My final contribution to Target's Christmas Wrapped site implores everyone to forget the last-minute Christmas cramming. It's time to let go and enjoy the holidays. This post was inspired by a wonderful, heartbreaking conversation I had with a long-distance relative yesterday -- her 14 year-old daughter is suffering from the...

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links for 2008-12-23

Flexible Dreams: Crayon Hack Egg carton as crayon holder! Brilliant, Amy! Smart-Bottom Enterprises: Made with Love - Celebration Posters A sweet, simple way to makes your kids feel special on birthdays or other big days. Thanks, Darcy!

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Amazon deal (good for the next 15 hours): LeapFrog Musical Table and Didj

Last minute shopping? Amazon's got two great Gold Box deals going on right now. The LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table was the favorite toy around here when my kids were babies and had just started standing. It's on sale right now at Amazon for $22.07 (45% off). For older...

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How to involve your kids in Christmas tree cleanup

Steven's BRILLIANT tips for getting whole family involved in Christmas tree takedown: My kids are almost teenagers now but we have a few family traditions that help when it is time to take down the decorations. The first is the “Hidden Santa.” During the holiday season I bought about half...

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links for 2008-12-22

Testing your children for super powers is highly recommended. | Daddy Hogwash What a lovely story. Thanks for sharing, Karl!

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Momversation: The Men of Momversation!

What's it like when your wife shares the details of your marriage and family life with the entire Internet? That's the question Jon Armstrong (husband of Heather/Dooce) asks on Momversation. He's joined by Bryan Mason (husband of Maggie/Mighty Girl), Hal Isaakson (husband of Rebecca/Girl's Gone Child) and Mark Peel (husband...

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links for 2008-12-21

Craftzine.com blog: Texture Boxes for Kids This "craft" can be built over time. Craftzine.com blog: HOW TO - Make Edge-Lit Holiday Cards Whoa. We're big into LEDs at the moment, so we may give this a go. Baby Toolkit: Ghosts of Christmas Past: Links to Earlier Baby Toolkit Holiday Hacks...

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