parenting

We've always said that raising digital natives, especially since we're not digital natives ourselves, means understanding the role of technology in our family. But when it comes to knowing what questions to ask (and answer), well, that c…

Parents of tweens and teens, we've got good news! YouTube is launching new parental controls specifically for kids in this age group. What a relief to those of us who see the value in letting them watch some of the content on YouTube...b…

Over the last month, we've been getting bombarded with all sorts of posts about kids and screen time, from articles telling us that we've got a big problem on our hands to ways to feel okay about all the screen time . If you're like me, …

Valentine's Day is the next holiday, after Easter , Halloween , Thanksgiving , and Christmas , that will be affected by our new socially distant lifestyle. No sprinkle-laden, heart-shaped cookies in class. No gaudily decorated shoeboxes …

Has anyone else's teens struggled with interrupted sleep since the pandemic? My kids' slower social lives and reduction in extracurricular activities certainly plays a part, but turning to tech to connect with friends is making an impact…

Let's take a minute to applaud our teens who've been willing to quarantine this year. It's been brutal to lose so many activities they love, and they've handled it with flexibility and (mostly) good attitudes! While we'd hoped we'd be "b…

This is a sponsored message from Duolingo ABC You probably already know Duolingo as the most popular language-learning app around the world. But you may not have tried the brand new Duolingo ABC , which was designed to help all kids lear…

Okay, so plenty of us gave up on the same screen time limits we had pre-Covid. But that's not to say we don't still have screen time fights with the kids. Or uh...arguments? Debates? Gentle disagreements? If you're looking to cut back on…

Kids are pretty darn smart, but we can be smarter, parents! On this week's Out-Tech Your Kids podcast , we're talking about the ways kids can circumvent parental controls so you can be prepared, thanks to the members of our Out-Tech Your…

We've always said that all screen time is not created equal! And on this week's Out-Tech Your Kids podcast , we're talking about the benefits of social media for kids. Social media tends to get a bad rap -- let alone specific channels li…

"Don't read the comments" isn't going to fly when your kids are old enough to watch YouTube videos without you around, let alone managing their own TikTok accounts. But learning how to be a responsible commenter is a skill that comes in …

We've had a tech-positive approach to digital parenting since we started Cool Mom Tech, though we didn't exactly have a name for it back then. Since our launch in 2010, we've been sharing our tech expertise not necessarily as techies, bu…

This is a sponsored message for Coding with Kids If you're looking for ways to keep your kids busy this summer, without missing out on any of that camp fun, you'll want to check out the virtual tech camps for kids 5-18 from Coding with K…

With lots of extra time on their hands, my kids are spending a lot of that playing video games. And based on some of the discussions in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group , I'm not the only parent who's experiencing the same thing. Bu…

Both Liz and I got word this week that our kids will be out of school for the rest of the school year, which means we'll be doing this isolation schooling for another couple of months. Thankfully, resources like SchoolClosures.org have b…

It's ironic that I chose the word "connect" as my 2020 word, just to find myself practicing "social distancing" three months into the year. Suddenly, instead of looking forward to coffee shop meetups, long chummy walks, and dinners with …

Over the years, we've shared our concerns with kids on Snapchat , which aren't really that surprising. We all know that it's terribly difficult to monitor. And we've seen our kids deal with the difficult issues that arise with Snap Maps …

We live in an age of photoshop and photo altering, and quite frankly, our teens and tweens are pretty savvy when it comes to pointing out (and complaining about) a model's face that's been de-wrinkled. But photos of women -- made to look…

With resolutions and goals for 2020 in mind, we know that a lot parents are thinking about technology and screen time. Wrangling screen time is a huge concern for many of you (and us), as well as the members of our Out Tech Your Kids Fac…

If you've got a kid on an iPhone or an iPad, this week's iOS 13.3 update (as well as iPad OS 13.3 )has some serious parental controls that we think you'll be happy to know about. Introducing Communication Limits Starting his week, there'…

We know that " digital parenting " is quite the buzz phrase these days. Our approach to it has been similar to how we parent our kids around similar difficult topics (think non-alarmist, non-judgmental), except unlike the sex talk or the…

Whether your kids have had a smartphone for awhile now, or you're considering getting them started with one, it's important that they understand how to use it. And as we all know, when it comes to a smartphone, it's not as simple as dial…

Raising kids in a digital age presents all sorts of parenting challenges. That’s one of the many reasons we started Cool Mom Tech, along with our new Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group (OTYK). And we talk about it a lot on our Spawned Par…

This weekend, inspired by the Cool Mom Picks book club video chat about How to Break Up with Your Phone , I decided to try one of author Catherine Price's tips to help me be more mindful about my screen time, and more aware of how much I…