An Ignoble Experiment: [Parent Hacks] 2 new posts in Parent Hacks

2008/08/24

[Parent Hacks] 2 new posts in Parent Hacks

Hello, ignoble.experiment@arconati.us, and thank you for subscribing to Parent Hacks. Got a hack you'd like to share? Send it to hacks@parenthacks.com, along with your name and Web address (if you'd like us to link to you).

Bath toys gain new life as pool toys

There's still time and heat for the kiddie pool! Jenna's good-sense hack:

So, for all those late summer afternoons when the thrill of the kiddie pool itself has worn off…we just figured out that bath toys, especially the ones that have been forgotten INSIDE, make perfect pool toys outside. Our daughter thought they were the coolest thing this afternoon, when she ignored them for weeks at bathtime.

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On Parent Hacks at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/parenthacks/~3/372798444/bath-toys-gain.html

Parent Hacks admin: Summer (mental) vacation

Hello, dear Parenthackers! It has been a long time since we checked in. I hope that you and your families are enjoying the end of summer, bittersweet as it is. Many of you are already deep in back-to-school, and many more have years before school is on the horizon. We are heading into our last full week of summer, and I'm feeling that internal tug o'war: one side is hanging onto these open, sunny days with a white-knuckle grip, and the other is longing for the return of routine and time to myself.

One of the more surprising upshots of this summer has been my rather sudden and acute Internet allergy. You may have noticed that posting has been slim over the summer, as has my presence in the comments here and around the blogosphere. It's not because I love this community any less -- it's because I got hit with a need to plant myself back in the day-to-day world of my family, home, friends. It's hard to explain -- it's not as if my Internet life takes me away from all of that. I do most of my writing here and elsewhere before- or after-hours. But having my feet in two "worlds" -- the online and offline -- can get tiring, and I needed to reduce the mental input for a while.

It has been wonderful to immerse myself in what has been going on around here -- lots of little summer outings, plenty of swimming, free time at home, impromptu playdates. Nothing out of the ordinary, but still a good rest.

As part of my general summer slackery, I just noticed that the daily link roundup hasn't posted here since early August. I have been faithfully adding the links you send me (along with stuff I happen upon myself), but for some reason, the automated posting from Delicious to Parent Hacks broke somewhere along the line. I'm adjusting the dials right now and expect to get it working again, but in the meantime, drop on by delicious.com/parenthacks to catch up on the August linkaliciousness. For those of you who have sent me links during the last few weeks, I'm sorry they never made an appearance on the site.

We've got a little more than a week of summer left, after which I will enter the Promised Land known as Both Kids In School Fulltime. (My youngest starts kindergarten. I can't believe it. Another tug o'war: "I've been waiting for this day forever" and "Oh my God, she's growing up.") I am so excited to get the kids settled into school so I can get myself settled back here, in this fantastic community. You never cease to amaze me with your great ideas and smart, generous conversation. Thank you, as always. I love being here.

Photo by Joel Bedford