by Christina Refford | Tips and Tricks
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...
by Kristen Chase | Social Media
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. But...
by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks
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 skinnier and...
by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks
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 Facebook Group. Let’s just...
by Liz Gumbinner | Internet Safety, Best Apps
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’s a new...
by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks
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 drug talk,...
by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks
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 dialing a number...
by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks
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 Parenting Podcast. While it can be...
by Liz Gumbinner | Social Media, Gear + Hardware
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 pick up my phone. She...
by Kristen Chase | Fitness + Health
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, considering I leave mine at...