How to talk to teens and tweens about smart tech use and safety

by Julie | Internet Safety

Just about every day, I have a moment where I’m grateful social media wasn’t around when I was a teen or pre-teen. Don’t get me wrong; technology is a major positive in my life and in my kids’ lives. But it’s also kind of scary to think...

The best first laptop for a child? Reader Q&A

by Kristen Chase | Gear + Hardware

My 10-year old son is definitely ready for his own laptop, but I have no idea what to get him! Can you help with a child-friendly option? -Amy Funny you should ask, Amy. I just decided to get a laptop for my 9-year old, which was a lot easier than I expected. Here are...

How do you know whether to click that short URL?

by Liz Gumbinner | Tips and Tricks

Now that so many people are using URL shorteners like bit.ly, ow.ly, tiny url, and even custom urls, it’s easier to get tricked into clicking over to a phishing site or intalling malware that suddenly DMs your whole Twitter list to tell them “look at this...

5 of our favorite techie Pinterest pins this week

by Cool Mom Team | Link Roundups

If you’re as obsessed with Pinterest as we are, make sure you’re following us. Then check out our 5 favorite pins from this week. 1. A cool app for iOS and Android that’s a dream for parents like us who take tons of smartphone photos. 2. Speaking of...

How to make your tablet safe for kids

by Jeana | Internet Safety

If you have recently upgraded to a new tablet and want to hand off the older model to your lucky kids, there are a couple safety measures we recommend you put into place to make your tablets safe for kids. Even the older models are still valuable (coming from someone...

Safe search engines for kids? Reader Q+A

by Jeana | Internet Safety

What’s the best search engine for kids, in your experience? -via Twitter Keeping kids safe online should be a huge priority for parents. When it comes to kid-safe search, there are actually a lot of good options out there. Since you didn’t specify what age...

How to keep track of what your kids download

by Jeana | Best Apps

I feel for parents of teens these days, who not only have to contend with the usual teen angst, but also have a whole new set of digital obstacles to face with their kids texting and app-downloading and web surfing. Not to mention apps like SnapChat (eek). Thankfully,...

6 smart tips for managing your kids’ screen time

by Jeana | Tips and Tricks

With a second grader in the house who is increasingly reliant on the computer for homework and projects, I’m finding myself becoming much more vigilant about what he’s doing when online, and researching ways to be better about monitoring screen and game...

How do I get my kids started on Minecraft? A parents’ primer.

by Cool Mom Team | Games + Gaming

Over the weekend, my two older kids plunged head first into the world of Minecraft, and save the couple of desperate tweets and Facebook posts asking for help, I was pretty much on my own getting them started. If you’ve got a kid who wants to play Minecraft,...

Social media training wheels for tweens with Everloop Goobit

by Jeana | Best Apps

Any time I talk to a parent with tweens, the conversation eventually turns to the kinds of technology they are using, which then eventually turns into a Q&A session of me asking about cell phone usage, social media usage, cyber bullying (gasp!) and anything else...