Parent Hacks

Amazon Black Friday: Real Simple, ESPN, Popular Science and more mags $5 per year

Here's a good bang for your holiday buck (I should say, five bucks): Amazon's put a bunch of popular magazine subscriptions on sale for just $5 for the entire year. That's 90-ish% off the regular price of most subscriptions, and, in the case of ESPN Magazine, 96% off. Real Simple...

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Thanksgiving Lulla-Bear winner!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was relaxed and happy -- just what I was hoping for. Thank you to those of you who sent in your Thanksgiving tips. As promised, one of you wins this adorable Lulla-Bear MP3 player: and the winner is jibssa, AKA Amy!...

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Score big savings during Black Friday Deals Week at Amazon

Amazon's doing its civic duty by giving Americans the chance to bypass lines and shopping insanity this weekend: they're offering "Black Friday" holiday deals all week . Every day this week, Amazon will post one-day deals that rival the crazy prices at stores this time of year. Check the Black...

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Mark outgrown clothes with a safety pin

Betsy's got a smart plan for weeding out outgrown clothes: We get a ton of hand me downs, some without tags. I looked in my youngest kid's drawer the other day and he had WAY more shirts than I do. So I went on a weeding out campaign. Step 1:...

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Thanksgiving tip: Cook and freeze the side dishes and desserts ahead of time

Tiffany's practical Thanksgiving tip: I'm saving time this year by choosing make-ahead side dishes and desserts. Starting 6 days out, I'll be making one side dish or dessert and popping it in the freezer. By Thanksgiving Day, I'll have very little to work on besides the bird! I'm doing the...

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Thanksgiving tip: Organize the Thanksgiving potluck with Google Docs

Mandy's also using Google to get a handle on Thanksgiving planning: I'm not lucky enough to have gotten a Google Wave invite yet, but I did use a Google service to organize our holiday. I created a potluck signup sheet through Google Docs with the menu items detailed and emailed...

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Amazon Gold Box today only: Deluxe gingerbread house kit 60% off

Update: Folks have commented that you can get this kit cheaper elsewhere... Costco, Jo-Ann, etc. I always appreciate price reality-checking -- thank you! If making a gingerbread house is part of your holiday tradition -- but baking the gingerbread isn't -- today's Amazon deal should make it more affordable. This...

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links for 2009-11-20

Craftzine.com blog : Knifty Knitter Loom-Along: Alice Wrist Warmers We've talked about the coolness of the Knifty Knitter here! Great project for kids. A simple Thanksgiving solution | Unclutterer Erin and I are round-tripping the links! But she expanded on the oilcloth/chalk combo beautifully, and I figure y'all might like...

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Glow stick bracelets as nightlights

Richelle's creative night light solution: When my 3 year-old son was afraid of having bad dreams one night, I gave him a couple glow stick bracelets left over from Halloween. They made a great night light for him. I was thinking they would work especially well for traveling or camping,...

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Thanksgiving tip: Label the serving pieces

Here's a tip I came up with as I was poring through my nifty Thanksgiving Supplies List (available for download at the Parent Toolbox over at Slideshare): label each serving piece with whatever dish you plan to serve. That is, stick a label or Post-It note that reads "mashed potatoes"...

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Empty pop-up wet wipe containers make good car tissue holders

Tracy has submitted countless hacks over the years, and they're always so simple...yet smart. Tracy: I anoint you with the Parent Hacks Forehead Smack of Brilliance! We have a couple of those flushable wet wipe containers from when my kids were toilet training. We fill them up with tissues and...

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Thanksgiving tip: Cut up the turkey before roasting to cut cooking time

If you're not attached to the Norman Rockwell-eque image of a big, dressed turkey coming out on a platter, follow Amy's advice: To cook the turkey faster, chop it up. Separate the wings, thighs, legs, breasts, etc. because a breast or thigh cooks much faster than a whole freaking turkey....

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Coat "slimy" food with Cheerio dust to make it easier for finger-feeders to handle

A use for cereal dust! Adam, you and your wife are heroes: Our 11 month-old son is almost completely off of jarred baby food and onto solids, but has always been picky about foods that are sticky or sort of slimy like cut up grapes and bananas (it doesn't sound...

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One bottle of nasal spray per family member!

Take that, flu season! Jenny reminds us that we should each have our own bottle: Saline nasal spray is sold at CVS in two-packs. It's l expensive than buying one at a time and much cheaper than the cute kid spray with cartoons on it. So, I bought four, came...

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Amazon deal: $50 gift card with Wii console + Wii Fit Plus purchase

If a Wii is one of the items on your holiday shopping list, you might like to know about this Amazon deal: Now through Sunday, 11/22/09, if you buy the Wii console ($199.99) and Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board ($89.99) at the same time, Amazon will toss in a...

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