Computers and Technology

All kids love cartoons, and my cute, adorable, and sweet little kids are no exceptions. I must admit I love cartoons, too. Even if we have different tastes, we spend most of our evenings watching cartoons. They love “The PowerPuff Girls”, while I’m crazy about “Dexter’s Laboratory”, so we might argue sometimes, but all arguments end with a kiss and a new cartoon.

I have tried to share with them my all-time passion for Disney cartoons, but after a few attempts I had to give it up. They fancy watching Cartoon Network more than watching Sleeping Beauty, so they convinced me to watch TV with them, even if I’m still in love with my classic Disney cartoons. 

Any time we go on holidays, the long journeys make them whine that they are bored, and they miss their cartoons, so they have asked me to buy them some player on which they could load their favorite episodes. First, I didn’t agree, but they kept on pleading and begging until I promised them I would get them an mp3 player with video capabilities.

I have come across the sansa view 8gb , which seems just perfect. Any child could easily use it, so I bought two, one for each girl, so that they wouldn’t fight on them. I loaded them up with their favorite cartoons, wrapped them, and made a beautiful surprise to my kids. Their happy dance when they opened the boxes and saw their new players was worth seeing!

Now, they take their new “toys” everywhere with them. They have learnt quite easily how to load cartoons and music on their players, and they watch them on every trip, and even on breaks, at school. And I can watch my beloved Disney movies without any arguments, any time I want.

Computers and Technology family, gifts, kids, media players, movies, Mp3 players, parenting, shopping, technology

Our parents had a different set of problem. When we were young and we were playing outside of the house, they were most likely worried that we could get hurt while playing, either scrape our knees or get sprained or they were worried that a stranger might talk to us and we will reply. Those are all things that our parents would be forced deal with back in the day. Now that we are parents ourselves, on top of these run of the mill problems, we now face additional worries whenever our children play online games. Playing games online leads to two major concerns that todays parents should be aware of. One is that some online games, since they offer anonymity, can be accessed by pedophiles and can talk to your child. Second is that griefers, also known as cyber bullies, can target and can make your chilled extremely miserable.

Playing video games online brings on the almost necessity of allowing people to talk to each other via chat. Mainly in strategy or barter based games talking is a huge part of the gameplay, but often talk spills over into the personal sphere. Stick to the basics before you go out and find your kids street fighter 4

To ensure your childrens safety online here are a few basic tips that I would suggest implementing in your house to protect them from grifers and pedophiles alike, just do these before you go and find halo wars or some other games:

1.    Make sure your child understands – When your implement rules and boundaries on online gameplay be sure to let them know the purpose. Explain that its not that you do not trust him, its just that you are not very trusting when it comes to other people.

2.    Relocate the computer – Make sure that the computer is in the kitchen or the living room area. This will ensure that you can check up on the gaming activities of your child once in a while. Also, if the computer is in a well trafficked area, your child will also be able to interact with people in the real world.

3.    Educate – Ensure your kids know that there is information they can never share with anyone online:
a. True name
b. Contact details like address and phone number
c. State
d. Passcodes
e. Social security numbers

4.    Make sure that they use a pseudonym as a log in ID.

5.    Ignore – Don’t talk to strangers or bullies on the net, just like the real world. Strangers like this are looking for easy prey, if you just don’t respond they will go away after a few seconds.

6.    Keep above those below you – Tell your child that if a griefer is very persistent to never attack him the way they tried to attack your child. Things only get harder as you reply.

7.    Ask for help – Tell your child that when in doubt, when they do not know what to do and when they are scared, to ask help from you. Tell them that even if you are busy, even if you are not even at home, that they can call you up in the office or in your cell phone to ask help or to let you know what scared them.

Follow these tips before you allow your kids to go on the net and play games once you’ve gotten them used resident evil 5

Computers and Technology boys, computer games, electronics, family, kids, parenting, video games

All my kids talk about getting every year for Christmas is video games if they don’t go downstairs and find Gears of War 2 under our new flocked christmas tree I do not know how they will survive. It makes me a little nuts since I do all I can to get my kids outdoors. I would prefer to get them something like new football equipment or bikes, really anything they can do outside. Alas, I suppose boys will be boys. Fighting with them is just too much work.

That being said I’ve tried to find some tricks for my family and video games. I do a couple of things in an effort to force them outside. The first way I try to accomplish my goal is by limiting time that can be spent in front of them television to only one hour per day. I have discovered that limiting the time is key to everything else because then they know time above and beyond that is to be earned. I do give them some ways to earn more time in front of the television. That leads me into my second trick. They have a few options to earn more television time, either playing outside or doing some chores for me. The chores is nice for me and generally has a pretty good payoff for them. I set it up so it ends with one hour of chores earning one hour of television time.

The number two way they get more television time is by spending some of their time outside. For every hour they spend outside they get fifteen minutes of video games. Like I say this isn’t a huge payoff, but I also don’t really think asking them to be outside is a huge thing to ask. That option works the best of their long Saturdays where they spend the majority of the day outside anyway. They can play outdoors for the day on Saturday and then spend the night playing video games. Realistically a night of playing games and watching movies isn’t so bad after a full day outside.

That being said I’m ok with one or two ending up under flocked christmas tree this year , that is if it allows for the positives of getting the boys outside and making them a little more obedient. I hope they like their games, because I am going to like my “gift” of a little more control around the house.

Computers and Technology boys, computer games, electronics, family, kids, parenting, video games