It’s that time of year again. Away with the old and in with the new! As 2012 approaches, I’ve decided to make some serious changes to my life. My digital life, that is…

1. Computer Back-up Squared Away.

We have three levels of back-up in our house– in the Cloud, on an external hard drive hooked into our network, and wishing. At one point in 2011, all three methods failed me… and then my laptop died. Whop-whop. 

My first order in 2012 will be to make sure the online and hard drive backups are running and in good shape.

2. Learn How to Use My DSLR… at long last.

Are you tired of hearing me talk about the DSLR that I STILL operate on “auto” three years later? It’s disgraceful if you ask me…

I have high hopes for taking a class– a real, hands-on, photography class- sometime in 2012. In the meantime, I downloaded the Master Your DSLR Camera app from Open Air Publishing for the iPad. It’s a great start.

3. Manage My Money Like a Grown-up

In 2009, the money management software that I had been using was discontinued. In 2011, my bank stopped supporting it. Six months later, I finally noticed. Clearly, budgeting and household finance are not my strong suit, but I’m still more diligent about it than Mike…

In search of a no-brainer, quick way to track our household finances, I discovered Mint.com. Available as an app for the iPad, Google Chrome, and Android, there is no excuse to fall behind on budgeting… or so I hope!

4. Upgrade Mike to a Smartphone

Mike still swears by his flip phone, which I find to be the tech equivalent of  a turtle on its back. Bleck! 

5. Recycle My Old Devices and Batteries

I’ve been accused of being a tech hoarder. Yes, I am guilty of converting our linen closet into a “charging station” for all of my cords and devices. Yes, I upgraded my phone three times in 2011… Writing about tech is my job! That’s my excuses and I’m sticking with it.

Honestly, I could do with some purging and donating of devices in 2012.

What are YOUR tech resolutions in 2012?

{image credit: DryIcons}

When I was 19 years old, I spent the Spring semester of my sophomore year at my college’s campus in Rome. For six glorious months, I not only reveled in the Eternal City, but was also strongly encouraged… nay, kicked off of the campus… to explore the far reaches of my EuroRail pass every weekend, break, and holiday. As I said… glorious.

I did all the things a respectable (if not, super nerdy) American liberal arts major would be expected to do while living in Europe on her parents’ dime.  I climbed church steeples. I entrenched myself in museums, ruins, and catacombs. I made wishes at fountains. I debated styles of architecture… as if I had any clue. I woke up one morning with a craving for waffles, so my friend Chris and I went to Belgium. Naturally.

Then there were all of the other  things I did.

For instance… I have no idea how we even got there. There is a photo of my best friend and I covered in mud and standing in the rain at some Communist rally/rock concert somewhere outside of Rome. Barely legal to vote and certainly not “allowed” to drink in our home country, we took full advantage of being young, dumb, and in Europe. The Communist rally was no exception.

A bit tipsy and completely drenched, we made the super responsible decision to HITCHHIKE back to school in the car of two Italian men named Angelo and… umm, something else. We had them drop us off at the next town over from our campus…(because it was IN the car with that two strange men who we did not know whatsoever that we decided to be cautious. Right!) Then, we walked on the side of  a dark country road in the middle of the night to get back to our dorm. It was after hours, so once we arrived, we then had to climb over the metal gate with the spikes and jump off the other side.

It is a miracle of youth and stupidity that my best friend and I are alive and have our own daughters now. When people ask if I would every let my children go to my alma mater and have the same privilege of living in Rome as I did, I think… “Umm, hell no”.

Of course, when I was in college dinosaurs ruled the Earth cell phones were no quite standard issue and spotty dial-up was accessed only at Internet cafes. What’s broadband? What’s a smartphone? My only contact with my family and then boyfriend were through payphones and calling cards. I sent a post card home from every city I visited, but those arrived long after I departed– off to another Irish pub, Greek nightclub, or German film set. ( That’s another story.) Not much solace, if you ask me.

I am only kidding about letting my kids go off to explore the world one day. My children are quite young at the moment, but I know that I can’t stop them  from growing up or screwing up any more than my parents could stop me. At least technology has made it possible to have much more piece-of-mind than my parents probably did while waiting for a random phone call from their belligerent offspring.

Bipper, the company who developed Bipper Kids as a way for parents to track their kids’ mobile usage, has recently introduced the bSafe app. It is an emergency alert button for your smartphone. Although this technology was initially offered as a feature in their mobile tracking service, it has since gained so much popularity among adults that Bipper has spun it off as a stand-alone product.

bSafe is a free app that turns your smartphone into the “ultimate safety device”. With the push of one button, the bSafe app will alert selected contacts that you are in danger and share your location using your phone’s built-in GPS. It’s the ideal companion to anyone who has to walk alone at night, an elderly relative who maybe in danger of falling, or even college kids who should know better than to hitchhike and should have probably just called an RA to come get them from the Communist rally/rock concert… ahem.

Here is a quick step-by-step on how this clever little app works:

You hope that you never have to use an app like this, but it is such a comfort to know that you have it when you do… just in case.

Learn more about Bipper and the bSafe app by going to NeverWalkAlone.com. The app is free to download on Apple, Android, and Blackberry devices through the app stores. Another way is to simply text bSafe to 84145 or enter your phone number on the bSafe site. The link to download the app will be sent directly to you via SMS.

Disclosure: I was compensated to review the bSafe app. The views, options, and irrational fears shared in this post are all my own. 

From time to time, the idea of giving an allowance is subversively bandied about Scout’s school. The classes participate in a monthly service project. One month it’s collecting coats for kids, another they are collecting gently-loved books for a local shelter. It’s all very sweet and wonderful. However, I was a bit taken a back when, a year ago, my son asked to do chores so he could buy a cow.

“A cow?” I asked amused, wondering if this was real or a flight of fancy

“Yes, a cow. Mrs. M said we need to do extra chores so we can have money to buy a cow,” he explained.

Further investigation and a note from the teacher at the bottom of his backpack later confirmed that the preschool was collecting money for Hefer International,  an organization with the goal of helping people out of poverty by giving them the tools, knowledge, and livestock to create a sustainable living.

The preschool was, in fact, going to buy someone a cow. E-I-E-I-Oooooh! 

“So could you give me some chores, Mommy?”

My (very opinionated) Opinion on Allowance

Scout was only four at the time, but already had such a kind and earnest heart. I didn’t want to say “No”, but I also wasn’t ready to confront the idea of giving my kids an allowance in exchange for chores. I suppose it is a perfectly reasonable arrangement, but there are two things that I just cannot get past:

Aren’t chores simply part of living in a house and being in a family? As in, you like clean socks, but not cockroaches. So put the dirty laundry in the basket and put your uneaten food in the bin… A cockroach-free existence is its own reward.

More importantly, I can’t name one single thing my children can do that I find worthy of payment. I mean, they certainly try. “I do it myself!” is a commonly heard rebuttal in my house. It is quickly followed by, “Help meeeeeee?”

I teach them. I guide them. I praise them. In the end, whatever it is that we are doing takes longer, is messier, and seems to require much more squealing… Who, if anyone, ought to be the one getting paid in this situation? Hmmm? 

Teaching Kids About Money

I am in no position to judge anyone’s parenting. If other families want to tie allowances to chores, it’s probably because their kids are older (and are performing duties that one would otherwise be paying a lawn service/babysitter/cleaning person to do). Perhaps it’s a way to teach kids about the importance of hard work?

As for us, I find that the exchange of money for goods and services is a simple enough concept to grasp, even for a four-year-old. The kids see Mike and I go to work everyday. They know that they will have to work one day too. That’s a given.

I see the purpose of allowance as a way to give kids an opportunity to learn how to manage money through making both good choices and bad, and with guidance from their parents. If they are going to make financial mistakes, let them make them early when the stakes are low and no one’s counting on their share of the rent.

Choices

With this mind, all of my conversation with my kids about money revolve around making choices.

Would you rather have a $5 mall pretzel or a $5 Lego set and a snack from Mommy’s purse? 

Would you rather have five little $5 Lego sets or wait to get the $25 Lego set? 

Sometimes he chooses wisely. Sometimes. But the bottom line is, I have a choice too and I reserve the right to say “no, we can’t buy that today.” End of the conversation.

Wishlists

I keep a running wishlist on my smartphone with an app called The Find (available on Apple and Android devices), with photos of the things my kids beg for at the store. From time to time, my son will go through all of the photos and realize that he wants the “super cool harbor set” more than the “police station and boat”. (Yes, I am still talking about Legos. It’s the most accessible currency for little boys.)

So now, I know what to get him for Christmas AND I’m not drowning in every set he asks for…. just the ones he loves most.

Experiences

I have written in the past about the way my kids put more value in experiences than things. I am so proud of them for this, but I also make it clear that some experiences come with a hefty price tag. Vacations, karate lessons, swim team… these things are not cheap and I am perfectly forthcoming about how we can’t afford XYZ this month because we are buying new swimsuits and floaties instead.

So how did my son raise the money to buy the village a cow?

Just because I’m not willing to tie allowance to chores doesn’t mean that my son was off the hook for raising money on his own.

Instead of household chores, I asked him to help me gather all of the toys, books, and clothing he and Lou had outgrown and take them to a local resale shop. Whatever money we got back from the sale would be his to donate or keep. We purged a good bit of clutter and made a chunk of change that day. Then, he donated  ALL of it to the cow.

I count that as two good deeds and an important lesson in giving.

Disclosure: As a Kidworth Ambassador, I was compensated for sharing how our family saves, spends, and sets goals. If you are still looking for the perfect holiday gift for a little person in your life, consider giving the gift of financial success. Consider a gift card from Kidworth. 

{image credit: Flickr, Johnson Cameraface}

It’s time again for the Annual Great Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange and here is ours.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Everything to all of my friends! I am so very happy to have all of your in my life (and in my laptop). I am, indeed, very blessed.

As I do every year, I made TWO versions of our holiday card– one to send to family and close friends, and another to send to the people who love us dearly, but probably don’t want a three-fold spread of  ”look how freakin’ cute my kids are. Look! Look!”

To see the other version on my holiday card, read my post on Why I Send Holiday Cards.

There are very few thing that you really need in this life– food, shelter, clothing…. For  parents, diapers are unarguably a necessity as well.

There are many established programs and agencies intended to handle food, shelter, and clothing. Now that we are squarely in the middle of the holiday season, you have probably even noticed initiatives to provide toys and books to needy children.

While these are all fantastic programs, the number-one need for many families was not baby blankets, clothing, or even food, but DIAPERS– which are NOT covered under social-safety net programs like WIC or food stamps. Many shelters do not supply diapers and companies who make diapers did not make donation large enough to fill the need.

Whether you use cloth or disposable, you cannot deny their importance. Parents cannot drop off a child at a daycare without an adequate supply of diapers.  As a consequence, mothers (yes, it is most frequently mothers…) are unable to go to work and support their families. Babies are left in dirty diapers for longer, which poses a serious health risk and more illnesses.

Upon realizing this, my friend, Lisa Truong and, her co-founder, Rachel Fudge started Help a Mother Out on Mother’s Day 2009 in the Bay Area.

They began with a Mother’s Day diapers-and-wipes donation drive to benefit a dozen agencies serving low-income and homeless families throughout California. With a tiny initial investment of $100 and the power of social media, they managed to collect over 15,000 diapers for families in need.

HAMO has since grown into chapters in Southern California, Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma and Washington.

But anyone, anywhere can collect and donate diapers!  

This morning, I am hosting my second annual diaper drive at at Los Altos United Methodist Church. It was a breeze to organize. I told my moms group about Help A Mother Out, sent a follow up, and asked them to bring diapers to our meeting today.

Last year, I did the same thing except I extended it to my greater network in the area– book club, my other moms groups, friends… everyone. For an entire month, any where I went I asked my friends to bring diapers. I offered to pick them up at their homes. I met them at the park, at Starbucks… a package here, two leftovers from potty training there…

In the end, I collected over 1,300 diapers and drove them to a shelter in a neighboring  town, knowing that we have impacted the lives of members in my community.

Other ideas and supplies needed to start your own diaper drive can be found on the Help A Mother Out website. You can even host a virtual diaper drive by adding and promoting the “Donate Now Button”