Guardians of Their Smiles

The NY Times article Guardians of Their Smiles looks into the debate of the pros and cons of posting photos of your children online.  It begins with the story of a mom whose daughter’s picture was taken from Flickr and used on a Brazilian chat site.

It serves as a stark reminder to make sure that you are using privacy settings on social sites and blogs (just like you tell your kids too!) I go back and forth on using my kids names on sites like Facebook. I generally don’t on my personal blog.  I don’t want some employer years from now looking them up and seeing their baby pics.

A grayer area is what about when someone else is posting a photograph of you or your child. What is the etiquette for this new social taboo?

Read the article. It is definitely worth thinking about.

New Fertility Monitor guarantees pregnancy or money back

DuoFertility, a new fertility monitor uses technology to help couples conceive. Using the traditional idea of tracking a woman’s basal body temperature (or BBT), the device  boosts the reliability of this measurement by taking a woman’s temperature 20,000 times every 24 hours.

The device consists of a hand-held reader and a sensor (about the size of a quarter) that is worn underneath your arm.

it also allows users to enter general fertility clues to predict up to 6 days ahead of time the best time to conceive.The data can be displayed on a computer for use by your doctor.

Currently the device is being marketed in England for £495  with a “pregnant in 12 months or your money back” guarantee. Currently the U.S. has not approved this device for use, but it is pending.

Having spent more mornings than I care to count getting up early to take my temperature, I think I might have shelled out this much for one.  Especially worth considering versus fertility specialists.

Why? Why? Why?

Any parent of a preschooler knows the drill? Why is the sky blue? Why do we have to wear shoes? Why are oranges orange?  The endless list of questions can become mind-numbing.

I just stumbled upon Whyzz – a website that helps parents answer kids’ “whyzz, whatzz and howzz”  with child-friendly answers.  From simple questions like “where do rabbits live?” to more complex issues like the recent Iranian elections or same-sex marriage, the site is an interesting place to find answers to questions your kids ask–whatever their ages.

Whyzz is also available on-the-go on your mobile.

Found via Mashable

The Mediatrician will see you now

Wonder if your kid is watching too much t.v.?  How to keep your kids safe on the Internet? Will baby videos help my child learn?

Ask the Mediatrician, Dr. Michael Rich, a former Hollywood filmmaker turned director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital, Boston. His new website offers up answers to questions that parents have about their children’s media use from television to video games to cell phones.

Do you have a question for the mediatrician? Send it in or read up to see what other parents are asking.

Speakboos for those long summer days

Speakaboos takes your favorite stories, fables and tales digital with video versions of children’s classics and even popular characters such as Curious George and Arthur. Popular celebrities such as Nick Cannon and Kevin Bacon lend their voice talents to the tales.

The stories also are accompanied by games, e-cards, create your own story opportunities and more. There is also a whole section just for teachers with additional worksheets and more to enhance learning.

All the stories are free to watch and can be downloaded for your iPod or computer for 99 cents. A portion of the proceeds goes to children’s charities

Learn more about Speakaboos on this video tour.

Found via Goody Blog

You Diligence

Finding it difficult to keep up with all of your child’s social networking pages–like MySpace and Facebook. Worried about what people might be discussing or posting on his page? Afraid your child may be being bullied but won’t talk to you about it?

YouDiligence is a new service that allows you to receive emails when pre-selected words are used on your child’s social network account page. For example, words referring to weapons/violence, drug use, bullying, obscenity, slurs, or sexually explicit languate can be screened for. You can also add personalized words or terms.The service is customizable to allow for differing levels of parental comfort.

When one of the terms appears on your child’s page, you recieve an email containing the word, the context in which is it used and a link to the page where it appears.

To use the service, you must know your child’s login information and have been friended by them on the applicable website.  YouDiligence encourages parents to have open communication with their children and to set boundaries and discuss that you reserve the right to check their pages if you find something troubling.

Another service is the SlangSpotter e-newsletter which helps parents stay up on the latest slang terms to maintain your “POS” position (Parent-over-shoulder).

Of course, there will be parent who wonder if this is an invasion of their child’s privacy to which the site responds:

Q: Is this violating my child’s privacy?

A: All of this material is being posted on the internet by your child and his/her friends. Anyone can gain access to it. With incidents popping up weekly from bullying, to fighting, to sexual predators coming after unsuspecting tweens and teens, it only makes sense to review their internet activity, especially in a responsible way like this. YouDiligence is effective and efficient, and will alert you to when you need to go take a closer look at your child’s site

Remember that what you child posts on the Internet is out there forever, for everyone anyway. At least if they think you might be watching they will think twice about what they post.

The service runs $9.99/month or $14.99 for a family plan.

Sofa Boy–A Cautionary Tale

Video game veteran  Scott Langteau, best known for his work with the Medal of Honor game series, has a new children’s book featuring “Sofa Boy,” an overzealous young gamer who takes his obsession to new levels.

The following description sums up the tale:

Sofa Boy invites readers into the living room of an average family. But this family’s son has a bigger than average obsession with videogames. Sitting from daybreak to dark on the family sofa, the boy will not stop his gaming and TV gazing to play outside, have dinner, take a bath, or go to bed. He is - quite literally - consumed with sitting on the couch. Penned with a clever rhyme scheme and accompanied by captivating illustrations, Sofa Boy encourages moderation in gaming habits, by showing the fantastical fate of one boy (and one cat!) who wouldn’t put the controller down.

This would make a great night-time read for the little gamer in your life.

Available from Amazon and other retailers. Sofa Boy ($14.95) ISBN: 978-0-615-25125-7

Just in Time for Christmas

Ah, yes the hottest toys of the holiday season are being announced and you can get the inside scoop at Time To Play Magazine.  This new site from toy insiders (i.e. the people that do the talk show circuit) has all the information about what is destined to be at the top of your child’s wish list.

Ever since Tickle Me Elmo took the toy world by storm more than a decade ago, the toy industry has been clamoring to incite similar levels of madness for the latest and greatest thing. Often this is another variation of  Elmo, surprisingly enough. 

This year’s list has lots of tech-friendly items such as V-Motion Active Learning System, TAG Reading System, and Clickables.

In addition the site has interesting blogs from top toy people with toy reviews and play in general and features like a monthly magic trick lesson.  One excellent post is about managing expectations to keep the focus on what matters during the holidays.

This is definitely a source to bookmark as you filter through all the ads that are sure to come our way this holiday season.