Parent Hacks

Create a LEGO mosaic of your child's photo

John (originator of the Parent Hacks sum-up: "Lifehacker for those who no longer have lives") passed along his truly amazing how-to on creating a LEGO mosaic of your child's photo without the assistance of LEGO's now-defunct online tool. You must click over to check out his photos. Incredible. Tags: Lego,...

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Extend the shelf-life of blocks of cheese

Jennifer got this from a grandma in the grocery store -- they are an excellent source of hacks! As our kids got older, we started buying the economy-sized cheese blocks. One day, a grandmother shopping with her grandkids gave me this hack: take the cheese out of the plastic, and...

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Let Joe help you track your goals: Joesgoals.com

Ian (aka "Joe") passed along a tip about his new goal-tracking app, Joesgoals.com. I was immediately interested, as goalsetting has never been my strong suit. Since my kids arrived, my attention span has shortened to the length of a flea-sneeze. Joe's Goals is a goal tracking application that lets you...

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Talk amongst yourselves: Introducing your kid to the books you loved as a child...which books?

From Margaret: There are a lot of great books written for kids now, especially fiction series, but what are the books you loved as a child that you are looking forward to introducing your child to? Since my daughter is now in the wanting-to-read-big-kids'-books phase, my reliving-my-childhood-series includes Betsy-Tacy by...

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Playing with dry ice

Dad, of raising4boys, has posted some fun ideas on his blog for playing with dry ice. (Just remember not to touch the stuff.)

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Parent Hacks @ BlogHer '06: I may touch you inappropriately

I just arrived in San Jose for the BlogHer conference (it starts tomorrow), and I'm filled with 80% excitement and 20% apprehension. I'm going to be meeting people I admire for their talent, creativity and nerve -- people I've never seen before but consider friends. I can't imagine another situation...

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Consider Netflix for kid's shows

Loraine left this comment on the post about the Amazon kid's DVD sale, but it was so hack-worthy I thought a promotion to the front page was in order. I don't buy kid's DVDs - instead, I subscribe to Netflix and devote one movie slot to my daughter. I can...

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Cool down hot pasta with cold pasta sauce

Along the lines of Noodad's Easy Mac hack (and appleturnover's frozen vegetable comment), I often cool freshly-boiled pasta by mixing it with cold pasta sauce (generally stuff leftover in the fridge from a previous meal). Homemade or bottled sauce is fine. Tags: Feeding kids, Parenting, Pasta

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Parent Hacks admin: The FM Parenting metablog

FM, the company that serves up our graphical ads, represents quite an illustrious pool of parenting bloggers. As such, I was rather excited when they told me about their plan for a parenting "metaweblog." The metablog would give a quick glimpse of what's happening on the blogs in FM's parenting...

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Inflatable baby pool as infant play area

Melanie has a good use for blow-up baby pools: When the inflatable pools go on clearance later this summer, they’re great to pick up for an extra play area for infants – especially those not walking yet. I purchased a large fire-truck inflatable pool when my oldest was an infant...

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Crafty coverall bib catches drips all the way down

I spent much of my son's baby- and toddlerhood looking for a bib that would actually keep him marginally splatter-free. I finally settled on the armor-like Baby Bjorn molded bib, which did a great job most of the time, but on a hot day, I felt sorry for my little,...

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Fitness jar motivates little couch potatoes

Here's one antidote for passive play.

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Writer seeks your "outings with kids" tips

I'm not the only person who thinks you're smart. Barbara Aria, a writer for a national women's monthly, would love to hear your tips. Here's what she's looking for: I'm writing an article for a women's magazine about how to take young children and toddlers on grown-up outings - for...

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Homemade, natural insect repellent

From Heather, just in time for summer camp-outs: I have a pseudo-hack. It’s a recipe for all-natural bug repellent and it works as well as “Deep-Woods Off." I found this recipe many years ago in a local newspaper. The article, which I still have, credits a book called Healing with...

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Playing card helper lets kids keep their poker hands hidden

Melissa's smokin'! Not only did she submit the clever Pez camera attachment hack (which got us Boing Boinged, thank you very much, David), she now has photographic evidence of her brilliance. Behold: two lids and a paper fastener combine to create a playing card holder that helps kids keep the...

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