Today's Fresh Blogs...

• You're reading this? I figured everyone's reading Harry Potter!

  Published: July 21, 2007, 1:26 pm

  Tags: 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Fun Toys, Things We Like

  It's the day half the world's been waiting for: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is out, and kids and adults everywhere are holed up in beds, on couches, and in sunny corners reveling in their last few hours at Hogwarts with Harry and company. My son is still a bit too young to read Harry Potter (he's busy devouring the Goosebumps series by

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Geography lessons no one can resist

  Published: July 20, 2007, 9:10 am

  Tags: 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Learning

  Michelle (author of the wonderful blog Scribbit) came up with a brilliant way to teach her kids about geography. This would be a wonderful way to build excitement for summer travel. To help teach my kids about the world around them I implemented a trick for teaching basic geography. I scrounged around for the maps occasionally included as

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Can you clean a computer keyboard in the dishwasher? Talk amongst yourselves.

  Published: August 1, 2007, 1:13 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Habitat

  Sally wonders (as do I): Slashdot had a story about a successful dishwasher santitizing method for keyboards. Apparently, they have more bacteria than a toilet!!??!! But I'm not sending this to fuel the fears of the germ-o-phobic I'm more interested in using this hack to get the GRAPE JELLY OFF THE KEYBOARD! I'm still a little hesitant,

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Extra shower curtain rod as swimsuit drip-dryer

  Published: August 3, 2007, 9:26 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Bathtime, Habitat

  A timely hack from the Hengst family: Put an extra shower curtain rod in your shower to hang wet towels and swimsuits from in the summertime.  The water drips right into the shower and not on the floor. If you happen to be remodeling your bathroom, there's a double shower curtain rod for just this purpose. A small tension curtain rod

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Setting up family cell phones for emergency contact

  Published: August 3, 2007, 10:38 am

  Tags: 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Getting Organized, Travel Going Out

  While your older kids are out and about this summer, being able to get a hold of each other in case of emergency becomes crucial. For those kids who use mobile phones, Betsy's suggestion makes good sense: *  Make sure your child's cell phone has the parents' numbers programmed in it, and label them Mom and Dad. *  Make sure your

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Presto Printing Mailbox: Send email and digital photos to offline relatives

  Published: August 3, 2007, 11:56 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Getting Organized, Habitat

  Grandpa wants regular updates and photos of the kids but doesn't have (or want) a computer or an Internet connection. How to bridge the generation/technology gap? Presto's solution is delightfully simple: plug a Presto Printing Mailbox in at Grandpa's house, connect it to any phone jack, and then sign up for a Presto account, which creates a

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Martha Stewart (and staff): Parenthackers?

  Published: August 4, 2007, 11:24 am

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Fashion General Cuteness, Feeding Nursing, Fun Toys, Getting Organized, Habitat, Learning

  There's a fine line between the hacker-ish DIYers and the stylish crafters. Case in point: the Martha Stewart Omnimedia folks got in touch to tell me about Good Things For Kids, a new special issue of on newsstands now. It's full of pictures of unnaturally well-groomed children, and I can't help but wonder what life would feel like if it actually

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Consistent front-back swimsuit color makes kids easier to track in the pool

  Published: August 6, 2007, 12:11 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Fashion General Cuteness, Getting Organized, Travel Going Out

  Richard's hack is one that would never become apparent unless you're in the situation: I made the mistake last year of buying my son a set of swim trunks that are red on the front, but black on the back.  This makes him MUCH harder to find in a crowd, especially since every other piece of clothing he owns is color consistent

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Coffee sleeve makes frozen drinks easier to handle

  Published: August 7, 2007, 10:00 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Feeding Nursing, Travel Going Out

  Art's hack should be posted at all quick-mart checkout counters: With warm weather upon us the requests by my children for the insert brand name ee frozen drink of choice at the local convenience store has risen with the temperature.  Along with that goes the complaints by the kids of "it's too cold" and the occasional dropped

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Encouraging the next generation of hackers

  Published: August 14, 2007, 9:37 am

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Attitude Mindset, Fun Toys, Learning

  From Sara: I suspect that many Parenthackers, like me, have their antenna constantly up for "how can I teach my kids to love computers like I did when I was a kid" (for me, that mostly means programming). Since Josie's less than 2, I think I have some time to figure it out (or even better -- one of you will figure it out for me!), but I

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Kid-friendly kitchens help even the youngest pitch in

  Published: August 19, 2007, 12:31 pm

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Attitude Mindset, Behavior, Feeding Nursing, Getting Organized, Habitat, Learning

  Heather wrote up a fantastic post on her blog, Oh My Stinkin Heck, about encouraging kids to help in the kitchen by making it more accessible to them. Really, the topic is much bigger than that -- it's about honoring your children by teaching them to pitch in...that they naturally want to help and you do them a disservice by not showing them how.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Nonslip shelf liner keeps tablecloth from slipping

  Published: August 21, 2007, 12:38 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Habitat

  Leah's hack would simplify craft time at our house considerably: Oilcloth tablecloths are excellent - they're durable, bright and wipe clean when the kids inevitably spill on them - but they slide around a lot.  I put rubberized shelf liner on the table underneath ours, and it works great - there's just enough catch to it that it doesn't

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Homework tips? Talk amongst yourselves.

  Published: August 31, 2007, 3:04 pm

  Tags: 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Getting Organized, Learning

  Jill from Atlanta had a wonderful idea: while I get back on my feet posting-wise, how about a little open discussion about homework tips? Most of us are likely in the grace period before the big-time assignments, so let's talk about ideas for getting off to a good start. Some ice-breakers: Where and when does your child do homework? Right

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Set up a homework station to help your kids get down to work

  Published: September 1, 2007, 10:32 am

  Tags: 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Getting Organized, Habitat, Learning

  Melanie's tips for setting off on the right foot with homework: I'm a teacher as well as a mom.  A good homework hack is to have a place or station set up where your child can do homework.  Have pencils, erasers, ruler, pencil crayons, paper, etc. all available in that dedicated spot.  They could be in a box that gets put away

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Real Simple Family: full of good hacks

  Published: September 5, 2007, 1:27 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Attitude Mindset, Fashion General Cuteness, Feeding Nursing, Fun Toys, Getting Organized, Habitat

  I couldn't resist -- Real Simple Family -- a special issue of the lifestyle mag Real Simple -- found its way into my shopping cart this afternoon. It's full of good hacks, including taping a few unused board games together to form a smooth, stable building surface for blocks (we're always cursing the carpet in our finished basement for that very

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0