parenting

As someone who works on a smartphone and computer all day long, I've become very diligent about wearing my blue light blocking glasses . I even have a pair for my kids, but no surprise here, they rarely remember to wear them. And well, c…

If you're like me, you've gone into your iPhone to show someone a photo, and as you scroll through the thousands of images, you realize you didn't delete those photos. Yes, you know what I'm talking about (actually, I'm talking about my …

I currently have just under 12,000 photos on my iPhone. I know, I know, but when you work in social media and have four adorable children, it happens. As you might guess, even with the handy location feature, as well as moments, favorite…

Since Messenger Kids launched back in 2017, we were pretty skeptical about the messaging app that purported to offer kids a safer way to chat with friends, all without having to actually be a Facebook user. Not surprisingly, the Messenge…

Just when you might have thought Apple was done with the iPod touch , they announced a brand spankin' new one. You're not alone in the head scratching because they haven't updated the iPod since 2015. That's like 20 years in Apple years!…

I had an original Apple Watch way back when it first came out, and I really liked it. I also ended up feeling like it was "another thing" -- another thing to charge, another thing to take care of, another thing to buy accessories for. So…

It's not just tweens and teens who might be using Finstas (Fake-Instagram accounts) to throw off their parents. We parents whose kids and their friends follow us on Instagram have probably considered using them in case we want to freely …

When it comes to digital parenting , there's a seemingly endless number of conversations we need to have with our tweens and teens. And according to a recent survey, moving " how to make a strong password " to the top of the list is pret…

This morning my teen daughter lost her earbuds. "Did you shove them in your front backpack pocket?" I asked her. "No!" she snapped, then barked "Just pick me up before study hall!" as she stormed off into the open doors of the bus. I cou…

If you tend to stick to hard and fast time-limited screen time rules with your preschooler, it might actually be a good thing. According to a recent study at the University of Alberta , kids by the age of 5 who spent two hours or more lo…

If you haven't updated to the new iOS 12.2, it's worth it just to get the new Screen Time app feature that allows you to customize your child's downtime by the day. It's pretty easy to do once you have your phone running on the new iOS. …

I've been an Amazon Prime member for many moons now, reaping the benefits of everything from free 2-day shipping to awesome bingeworthy shows , and lots in between. If you've been holding out on an Amazon Prime membership, they've added …

With all the not-so-great news coming out around YouTube recently -- from their pedophilia problem to the horrific content spliced into kids' videos to the infamous Momo challenge -- I've been looking for some YouTube alternatives. From …

We couldn't create an Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting without including tips about how to keep your kids safe on social media. After all, for our tweens and teens, the Internet is social media, and they could sooner give up the games…

As part of our Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting , answering parents' top questions about family technology, we're sharing the best services and tools to help you monitor your kids on their gadgets. While most routers, phones, tablets …

As part of our Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting , we know that a top question from parents is the best way to set screen time rules when we're at home. And we've got so many helpful approaches for you! Because bringing gadgets into yo…

Next up in our Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting , we tackle one of the biggest challenges parents face each day: screen time management. We know full well how hard it can be to decide how much is the right amount of time for our kids,…

We can't tell you how much debate we've seen over the simple question, "when is my kid ready for a smartphone?" It brings out nearly as much stress, passion and well, sanctimony, as questions about breastfeeding or sleep training. Well, …

Feeling inspired by Jordan Shapiro's interview on NPR with our former Spawned guest Anya Kamanetz , and reading his book for our upcoming interview with him on Spawned, I decided to let my tween daughter give TikTok (formerly Musical.ly)…

Over the years, we've written about many issues that parents need to be aware of when it comes to the content on YouTube . But this recent report from Wired should really throw the huge red flag of caution up for parents, particularly if…

Since reading Anya Kamenetz's interview with Jordan Shapiro on NPR , I've made some heavy shifts in how I'm approaching screen time with my kids. For the years that they've been on video games, tablets and most recently, their own phones…

After finally updating my son's iPhone SE to iOS 12 , I've been able to properly utilize the Screen Time app , which by the way, is where you'll find all the Restrictions you might be familiar with from previous iOS versions. If you've g…

We're all for setting some smart parental controls on our kids' tech, and there are some great parenting controls built into the Xbox One that you might not know about it. From limiting screen time to blocking other users who might be in…

If we're all perfectly honest with ourselves, then we know that Facebook has presented many privacy issues for a long time now. We've been writing about Facebook privacy issues since we started Cool Mom Tech in 2010. That's nine years. N…