Parenting in a Connected World

This article has some tips for parenting in a connected world.

Dad Life

This is a great video

Massively Multiplayer Online Game for Kids

Our son loves Legos.  He loves building the sets, and then coming up with his own creations and playing with them.  Lego has really been marketing their Lego Universe massively multiplayer online game, and have been including fliers with purchases from the Lego Store.

Of course, our son wanted to sign up.  We don't feel comfortable with any of our kids playing online.  We want to make sure that we know who they are communicating with, and with a MMOG, there is a level of anonymity that the game provides, and I am sure that people take advantage of it.   (They do state that they will be moderating the online play experience to make sure that kids stay safe.)

We talked with him about our concerns, and he understands why we won't let him play this game.  Maybe when he is older we will let him play online.

Kids and video games

This is a pretty bad story about how dangerous video game networks are for kids.  According to the story, video game networks are full of predators.

http://kdvr.vid.trb.com/player/PaperVideoTest.swf

All video game consoles have parental control systems that can protect kids.  For example, for the few times that our son plays on the Xbox, only people on his friends list can see if he is online and chat with him.  If anyone sends him a friends request, I have to approve it before it will be authorized.

Parents need to know about how to protect their kids when they go online.  Here are some helpful links for parental control on the various video game systems

Xbox

PS3

Wii

Dressing kids: Dads vs Moms

This post has a pretty funny, but pretty true, graphic describing how dads and moms dress kids

Simpler Family Life ideas

This blog post has some very good tips to make family life easier with kids.  I really like these suggestions:

1. Self-sufficiency


2. One Calendar


3. Quiet bedtime routines


4. Reduce Commitments

[via The Blogfathers]

Father/Son Wii

Our son has been having trouble focusing on his school work, while he is at school.  We are trying different tactics to encourage him to do his work at school, so he doesn't get behind his class. 

What is working now is that if he finishes his work at school, we can play 20 minutes of video games, while his sisters are taking their baths and getting ready for bed.

I think that he really enjoys this time with me. A couple of days ago, when I was pulling into the garage, he came downstairs and told me, before I even finished getting out of the care that "I finished all of my seat work at school!"

It is nice to see him excited about hanging out with his dad.

Jumping Monkeys

I just heard the Jumping Monkeys podcast, and I like it.  This podcast covers various topics of parenting in the digital age.

30 second rule

A while ago, I mentioned a study that states that bacteria gets transferred even with a 5 second exposure.  A new study now shows that wet foods like apple slices are good even after 30 seconds, and hard food can stay on the floor even longer.

It looks like we were right when we were kids.

[via Strollerderby]

Pachelbel's Canon for Parents

[via Left Coast Mom]

Potty-Training Anime

Our daughter has decided that she is ready to potty train.  Maybe she will like to see this hilarious video:

[via Strollerderby]

Parent speak dictionary

This is a great post that translates many parenting phrases.

(The comments have some pretty funny ones too.)

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