Remember when our biggest tech worry was screen time? Or maybe teaching our kids not to believe everything they read online? Those conversations were important, but friends, we’re in a completely different world now. Technology isn’t just changing fast. It’s evolving at warp speed. And if we keep parenting tech the same way we did…
How we transformed our Impressionist art study into a powerful lesson in critical thinking, creative confidence, and wise technology use Picture this: Your child has been studying Impressionism for weeks. They know about Monet’s revolutionary plein air paintings, understand the importance of loose brushstrokes, and can tell you all about how portable paint tubes changed…
It was Friday afternoon when my phone buzzed with a text from the farm cellphone. My oldest daughter was doing routine animal welfare checks when she discovered a ram lamb caught in the fence: “Mom! Need backup NOW!” In that moment, I had a choice: drag three little ones out to help with a potentially…
I am passionate about internet safety and protecting the digital footprint of my children. A huge thank you to the Mom it forward Influencer Network and to Google for sponsoring this conversation about how to discuss internet safety with young kids in order to Be Internet Awesome on Safer Internet Day and every day. “You…
Sitting on the sofa one evening my husband picked up his phone and started scrolling. A mere thirty seconds later he started smiling and laughing. “It’s a great time to be alive, Kara, a great time to be alive. I have an image in my head from when I was a kid and I just searched…
Smartphone addiction is real. So is letting a phone think for you instead of utilizing your own brain. And while we’re at it, let’s talk about sexting. Squirming in your seat yet? Or are feeling sweat drip down the back of your neck just thinking about actually handing your teen, tween, or even elementary school-aged child…
This post brought to you by LastPass. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Kara Carrero. A young toddler wielding a liquid in the living room by an open laptop. It’s not a modern twist to the game CLUE, rather, it’s the start of the story of the demise of my first MacBook….
Looking around the room, I see signs of 21st-century life that I could never have dreamed up as a kid. Things that could only found in sci-fi movies and futuristic literature. You know… because the internet wasn’t around when I was born. A phone in the palm of my hand. Touch-screen devices. Multiple laptops. A…
“I’m HUNNGRYYYY” cries my kindergartener as my almost 2-year-old melts down because she too thinks she is starving. Even walking into a favorite and beloved restaurant where we can immediately order at least one dish is never soon enough for my children who demand food now, now, now. With so many little mouths desperately waiting…
The big bad boogie man that is the internet is something that many families with young kids shy away from. However, knowing which sites are best for learning and how to keep them safe on them in the process is part of equipping our children for life. In fact, if they can’t get online, they…
Somehow in 30 seconds or less, I can hand my child my phone or iPad and turn around to find nearly 200 selfies and shots of little foreheads. It never fails. A full memory from family photos plus files and apps that seem to strangely disappear, the plight of sharing a family iPad can be difficult. But with a…
As a mother, I have found that it comes with a plethora of memories and keepsakes that I both want to never get rid of, but also want to preserve. Everything from drawings and scrapbook pages to clay keepsakes and lego creations. Because things get damaged, broken, lost, or just need to be rebuilt, I…