Photo credit: ginnerobot

So you’ve decided to get a Wii. Well, it’s a good news/bad news proposition. First the bad news: Nintendo keeps a level playing field by setting a standard price for its console — $199.99 — which makes shopping around for the best price fruitless. But the good news is that the Wii world is a little more complex than that, so savvy shoppers can still save some dough. Here’s how.

1. Look for a gift-card bonus. The way some retailers get around Nintendo’s MSRP (or any manufacturer’s, for that matter) is a store gift-card with the purchase. These were prevalent around the holidays and may be harder to find at other times, but are still worth a search.

2. Shop bundles. This is where things get complicated, because a Wii isn’t all it can be without accessories and software. Bundles are usually designed around an interest–like sports, fitness or music. Think about how you want to use your console and start shopping bundles.

3. Think used. There are tons of used consoles for sale online and some in stores. Depending on your comfort level, you can shop eBay (where there are dozens for sale) or go for a more “brand name” refurbishment. Our family shops regularly at GameStop for used items. There, a Wii console ($165 on a recent search) comes with a guarantee that it’ll work. I like that! Again, it’s essential to know exactly what is included in the price (especially if you’re buying a bundle), so that you’re comparing apples to apples in evaluating the price.

4. Work the coupon codes. If buying online, search to see if any coupon codes/coupons are available for the retailer you’re planning to buy from. Just do a search on “coupon code” and the retailer’s name and check any of the coupon sites that come up. If this search doesn’t turn up anything, at least let the purchase benefit your favorite charity — for example, most schools are hooked up with online malls like eScrip or Boxtops for Education. With a significant purchase like a Wii, you might as well have a small portion (usually 3-10 percent) help your favorite cause.

Happy shopping!

Photo credit: Jonas B

The middle school crowd is crazy for YouTube. I mean, if you don’t know who Fred is, you haven’t been paying attention! My son has jumped on the bandwagon, and is a frequent video poster and viewer. (The Flip camera he received for Christmas a couple of years ago gathered dust — literally — for more than a year before it became indispensable about six months ago.) His activity is focused on creating videos — mostly “instructional” but sometimes just opinions — about his hobbies (primarily fishing and street hockey). Once he posts a video, he becomes intent on the number of views each day and the number of subscribers to his channel.  A classic carrot-and-stick learner, he gets driven by and motivated by the numbers (which are in the thousands, by the way). He’s learned some classic blogger lessons, among them:

• Word choice in the title is crucial
• Comments can range from great pats on the back, to downright insulting, to “huh?”
• Other users provide extremely helpful tips on how to increase subscriber numbers
• Reciprocality reigns (you subscribe to me, and I’ll subscribe to you)

I’m glad he’s learning social media in an organic way. It’s a mainstream part of any business these days. (If you’re over 40 and have looked for a job lately, you can really appreciate this — as well as the concerted effort it takes to catch up to what youth do so naturally.) I try not to dismiss YouTube as a worthwhile activity, as long as I’m pretty sure he’s safe. Could it be the lemonaid stand of this generation?

Photocredit: bluemodern

A family room makeover in a design magazine recently caught my eye. The room included two identical TVs on one wall (with a fireplace between). The caption explained that the intention was for two people to watch TV “together,” each  using a separate screen and headphones.

I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it embraced reality: Cable television has become so diverse and specialized that each family member finds programming developed specifically for their interests (or age group). On the other hand, it’s sort of sad to think of two people, sprawled out on the couch with headphones. Are they really doing something together? I think not. But then, isn’t it better than being in separate rooms?

Now that my kids have minds of their own, it’s increasingly difficult to find TV programs or even movies that interest all four of us. We have three TVs, and I stubbornly refuse to think the solution is put all three into action simultaneously. We have two desktop computers and a laptop, and some days, those are all firing simultaneously. We have kids fighting over whose turn it is to pick the show, while parents secretly sulk because they rarely get a chance to watch the news. Even family movie night puts us in a bit of a pickle because few movies interest (or are even appropriate for) everybody. (Having a six-year age spread exacerbates the problem.)

Compromise is an important life skill. And I’d like to think my kids (and even my husband and I) are learning something by trying to find something we can all watch together. Even if it’s as simple an exercise as choosing between Inkheart and Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Photo credit: stolensnapshot

Every once in a while, I come across a situation in life-with-electronics that causes me to stop and say, “Hmmm.” While these dilemmas aren’t juicy enough to be fodder for playwrights and priests, they aren’t uncommon and take a little thinking-through as a parent.

1. Lying about the child’s age. This comes up when setting up accounts on adult sites. (By that I mean sites that are generally used by adults and not kids, but for purposes I’ve deemed appropriate for someone younger than the 18-year-old requirement. ) An example would be eBay: We set up an account for our child when he was selling some of his used games and toys. As a role model for my child, it was awkward to lie, even when I knew it was harmless. Non-digital parallel: Lying about age at the movies, or in other situations, when close to the cut-off.

2. Abiding by movie and game age ratings when at friends’ houses. Granted, I apparently care about and use rating systems more than most parents. But this gets hairy when the child goes to a friend’s house and plays a game or watches a movie that I wouldn’t allow at home. (While they’re not outrageously inappropriate, I just wouldn’t have had them at my home.) I don’t want to be such a hard-line mom that I put a damper on play dates, so I generally turn a blind eye. Non-digital parallel: When your kids eat healthy/organic foods at home but go crazy with junk food at friends’.

3. Ratting on other children. There’s a gray area between acceptable and unacceptable behavior, even online. It’s tricky to figure out at what point the offense is serious enough to bring up with the other parents, especially those you don’t know well. While I’d always want to know this information from other parents if my child were inappropriate, some parents are less open to this than others. Hence, my policy: It depends. Non-digital parallel: Telling on other children for their real-life behavior.

What mini-moral dilemmas cause you to stop and go “Hmmm”?

Photo credit: billaday

My colleague Leah Ingram, who blogs about frugal living over at SuddenlyFrugal, has some great suggestions for ways parents and kids can get the best values when buying used video games or selling them. For example, do you know when is the best time to sell a video game? Or which games hold their values best? I sure didn’t. Head over to Leah’s post for all the details.

Photo credit: billaday

A recent survey by Common Sense Media shows that 35 percent of students use their cell phones to cheat on tests. Here’s how they do it:

Happily, teachers and administrators are well aware of this problem and are attacking it head-on. Solutions range from creating a unique grade for cheating (FD), which stays on the student’s record for two years, to designing tests to be more process-oriented. You can read the full discussion at HigherEdMorning.com.

Photo credit: samantha celera

A simple thought/question as we approach the weekend: Should cell phones be banned from the bedroom during sleepovers? This hadn’t occurred to me until another parent brought it up, but as I thought about it, it made good sense. Even the best kid can lose good judgment in a group. Especially a group behind closed doors. Especially when holding a way to reach way beyond those doors.

What kind of trouble can kids get into as a group, holed up in a bedroom with a phone, that they wouldn’t on their own? Prank calls/texts and photo issues come to mind. Kids often surprise me with the creative ways they use technology to get into trouble. “Check your phone in the kitchen, please.”

Photo credit: chrisdlogosz

Sorting through the infinite Internet can be a full-time job, and you don’t have time for this (which is not to say we all don’t get sucked into it from time to time). I’m offering up some of my favorite sites that are either written about parenting or by parents. Enjoy!

Parent Hacks - Who doesn’t need a few tips to make parenting easier? Submitted by parents, for parents.

Common Sense Media – This Web site features tons of sensible (parent-oriented) reviews of TV shows, games and movies for kids and families. I really like the profile feature, where you can specify the ages of your kids, so they can direct you to what’s especially relevant.

Techmamas – Beth Blecherman’s blog is focused on technology and parenting. You know you’re interested, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading Parent Over Shoulder (friends and family-members excluded–you’re just good sports).

Today Is Fun – OK, so you’ve set limits, and the TV has been turned off. Now what? This ingeniously simple blog offers one  activity each day for kids. I guarantee that most activities will be new to you, while some you may know but need a little nudge to remember and suggest to your kids. You can search by age and type of activity. Banish boredom.

Radical Parenting – The key here is the tagline, “Parenting From the Kid’s Perspective.” I think this view is so often overlooked but is so important. Hats off to 24-year-old Vanessa Van Petten and her crew of teens for pulling this off.

Zen Habits – This one isn’t specifically about parenting, but “simple productivity” dovetails into one of the key pain points of parenting: how to get things done while still enjoying your children. Start on the “My Story” page, and you’ll immediately know this is a guy you should listen to.

Dooce – My favorite blog. Period. Heather Armstrong is a really talented writer, and whether you laugh, cry or sigh, it’s worth checking in on (oh so briefly) every day.

Photo credit: Lazurite

It was one of the weirdest parenting moments ever. Over a restaurant table, an acquaintance who had tagged along with my friend for lunch pulled out her iPhone and showed me all the emails my son had ever sent her daughter. It felt a little creepy.  And when she told me, with heartfelt empathy, “Oh, he was devastated when Isabella broke up with him,” I felt almost sick–my closed-mouth son had not even confided to me about the breakup, and here was a mom–a relative stranger to him–who knew all the details.

I’ve chosen not to read my child’s emails. (He doesn’t have a phone, so texts aren’t part of our life, but it’s the same issue.) A few years back, I attended a seminar on children and technology, and the speaker (a family therapist) advised that parents not read their children’s email, unless red flags have suggested it may be warranted. This approach makes sense to me and is what I have followed. I believe tweens and teens need some privacy, and developing trust between parent and child is very important. But then, I haven’t seen any red flags.

There’s an interesting discussion on the subject over at CommonSenseMedia.org. I particularly like that a lot of kids and parents weigh in on the subject, but my favorite comment was one of turned tables: a mother upset that her steamy texts were read by her child!

Whether or not you choose to read your child’s email, you should be aware that many parents do. Our whole family had a discussion about this, as I think it’s fair warning for the child (“Think before you send”. (I know my son would be mortified to know his email conversation was being passed around a restaurant table, so we kept it theoretical.) And if you do decide to snoop, be prepared to squirm. While you’re unlikely to uncover any incriminating information, you’re sure to be shocked…if nothing else, by the terrible spelling.

Photo credit: Max-B

Or more importantly, should you be your child’s Facebook friend? I know parents who’ve allowed their kids to be on social networking sites, as long as they can be friends (and oversee activity). I also know parents who have not made this requirement. Certainly, the decision should be based on the individual child–age, proven judgment, etc. And every parent has a different comfort level with social networking.
I do feel strongly, though, that if your child is on Facebook (or any social networking site), you should be too. There’s no excuse for not having a thorough understanding of these tools, which can be a lot of fun but can also expose kids to some unwanted advances.
Now, I’m hopping off my soapbox and recommending this Web site, which I found very amusing, that shares what kids think about their parent “friends:” myparentsjoinedfacebook.com.