With social media such a big part of life, it is important to create a safe space for children to talk about their experiences and the simplest way to do that is to have regular conversations with your children about it. But when is the best time to start talking to them?
One of our greatest fears as a parent is that our child is being bullied and now with the prevalence of mobile phones and social media it has opened a whole new side to abuse – cyberbullying or online bullying. It can be really hard to get your child to open up about being bullied, the signs can be difficult to spot and with cyberbullying, and it can be even more problematic as it isn’t confined to “in-person” bullying and abuse, and that’s why it’s crucial to stay safe on social media.
Most parents will be delighted to know that their children can use Google Classrooms on an Xbox or PlayStation. Yes, seriously. All their need is a USB keyboard and they will be able to complete and access their schoolwork on their console freeing up the families computer of laptop.
This review is a paid collaboration with National Online Safety – however, as always, all thoughts are independent and I have not been influenced in any way. I have two teenage boys, one who is 15 and the other who is 14 and as a parent, it is my duty to keep them safe both offline and online.
As a family, we take more photos than ever before. It is estimated that in 2020 over 1.4 trillion digital photographs will be taken. Many are shared on social media but many more will be forgotten. With so many photos taken it can be hard to decide which ones to print or to even bother to print any at all.
The Clueless Parents Guide to TikTok is a paid collaborative post with TikTok, but all opinions are my own. You can be forgiven for not knowing what TikTok is if you are not a teenager, but last September, it had more app store downloads than YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, and even Facebook. It might be the world’s fastest-growing social media app and as a parent, it might also be the world’s most confusing! So here is my clueless parent’s guide to TikTok.
Children have busy schedules these days; dance rehearsals, soccer practices, play dates and social activities with friends are common occurrences, and they keep both parents and the children very busy during the day.
At the end of 2018, I attended a conference at Instagram about Teenagers and social media, specifically teenagers and Instagram. I am not going to lie, it has taken me all this time to try and process the thoughts that came out of the event and also from my experience of parenting one teen and one soon to be teen boy. Plus add that to the fact that I once was a teen and a pretty tearaway one at that (I hope my boys are better behaved than I was)!
Screen time for me is the ultimate parenting conundrum. I am really aware that my boys’ are growing up with amazing access to technology and as a parent, it is my job to manage their access and help provide balance to their life but I have no framework or experience to build this on as it wasn’t around when I was a child. We had one TV with 3 channels and a phone that had a dial and cable! I remember illicitly taping the top 40 on a Sunday hoping the DJ wouldn’t talk over the song and that I could press pause and play fast enough to minimise the gap. My more »
Do you know what your kids get up to online? is a paid collaboration with Tots100 and McAfee. It seems that I am not alone in being my children tech this Christmas. In fact, 45% of people are planning to buy the latest gadgets for Christmas this year, putting tech at the top of Brits’ Christmas shopping lists with 22% of people say they plan to buy connected toys this festive period, a 7% increase on last year. However, less than a third of parents (31%) are currently speaking to their kids about what they do online. Do you know what your kids get up to online?
Sony Xperia XZ1 A review is a paid collaboration with Sony and Tots100 and a follow up to our Sony Xperia XZ1 First Impressions post three weeks ago. Since getting the Sony Xperia XZ1 in November we have been putting it through its paces as a family. However, it has mainly been split between Maxi and me, so this review is from that perspective. We also tried to make sure that we really put the camera and phone through its paces, so this is our view after a month with the phone.
Sony Xperia XX1 First Impressions is a paid collaboration with Sony and Tots100. I am going, to be honest, and admit that we do not have any android devises in this house, so I was intrigued to see how we felt about an android phone. Over the next month or so I am going to be sharing with you our thoughts and opinions here and over on Instagram and Twitter about what we all think. I am going to start today after we have had the phone for a week with our first impressions of the Sony Xperia XZ1.
It is no secret that I find balancing screen time challenging. My boys would quite happily spend some days on their Xbox or screens all day. So this summer we are implementing some summer screen rules for my sanity! Now I realise that this might not be for everyone, in fact, one of my besties doesn’t feel the need to implement screen times rules in her home. As always you know what is best for your family and this is what I feel is best for mine.
When Amazon asked me to take a look at the Amazon Fire Tablet their timing could not have been more perfect. Mini broke his wrist playing football on his last day of primary school! This has proven something of a challenge for my sporty kid who normally plays football and cricket during the summer and never really sits still. We do have a family tablet, but it is bigger than the Fire and a little heavy for him to hold and manipulate with his wrist in a brace, but the Amazon Fire Tablet has proven a great hit.
I am a DisneyLife Brand Ambassador and this post was created in partnership with DisneyLife who have provided me with a free 12 month DisneyLife subscription. I have made no secret of the fact that we love Disney here in The Mad House and we also love our tech here too, which is why we are big fans of DisneyLife.
Yes, you read that right, a parental control app that my boys hate and this is a GOOD thing. Really it is! Something that my children do not like and I am going to rave about it…… Want to know more?
As a parent you want to make sure that you children only access age appropriate apps and information on their tablets. The fact that my boys are now 10 and 11 and use tablets for homework and are sometimes left to use them independently means that I want to try and ensure that they are not accessing what they shouldn’t and also not spending too long on their tablets. This is why we are trailing Kidslox.
Encouraging your hypersensitive child to brush their teeth can be a real battle. I should know I have one! Mini finds toothbrushing really uncomfortable and we have tried lots of things to encourage him to brush his teeth. This post is in partnership with Playbrush, which aims to make brushing fun.
We are huge fans of family movie nights and have been waiting patiently to download The Secret Life of Pets so we could watch it as a family, Alvin included! So here are our top tips on how to download movies and makie movie night fun for all the family (including any pets)!
My boys don’t often ask for toys, but have been interested in a Teksta Robotic Puppy for the last three years and due to poor reviews, I have managed to talk them out of it. So when we were offered the new Teksta Robotic Puppy 5.00 to review I thought we would see what the fuss is all about and if they are worth the £59.99 that they cost.
