How I trained my smart home to be a third parent

My tips for using the connected home with children

“Why would I want a smart home?” It’s a common question as connected devices become more ubiquitous and pressure on “normal people” to start buying internet-enabled products mounts. My answer is always, “Do you have a problem you’d like to solve?” Or, “Do you have kids?”

The smart home is manna from heaven for parents. It is literally the third parent (or second) we’ve been asking for since these tiny bundles of joy burst into our lives. As early as 2016, 70% of parents in the U.S. owned at least one IoT device, and more than a third wanted to buy another one because they believe smart devices make them better parents.

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The Best Hardwood Floors for Messy Kids and Pets | Homes.com

Hardwood floors trump carpet for households with kids and pets. It’s a whole lot easier to clean up when spills are on wood, not wool. Plus, hardwood is more forgiving than ceramic, concrete, or tile. But if you have rambunctious pets and messy kids, you may be concerned about whether hardwood floors will stay beautiful in your home. Here, we’ll look at the four factors to consider if you’re thinking about installing hardwood.

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Round-Up: 9 Best Educational Apps for Your Kids - Modern Parents Messy Kids

Image Credit: © Stephanie | Smart Kid and the Smart Phone | CC by 2.0

Screen time is a hot-button issue for today’s parents, but one thing we can all agree on is that however long our kids are glued to a screen for, we’d rather that time be spent learning something.

My son is eight, just a year younger than the iPhone, and my daughter is five, a year younger than the iPad. As a tech journalist, I’m an early adopter, so both my children have been exposed to these shiny, addictive devices from a young age.

Over the last few years I’ve spent a lot of time and effort investigating and playing with dozens of “educational” apps to find the ones that best strike that precarious balance between educational and fun. Here is a round-up of my favorite kid-tested and kid approved apps/websites for children under 10.

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