Blog Posts by Parentables

Photo: Jamoutinho / Creative CommonsYou think you've got what's hot and trending under control because you use Facebook? Think again. Until I recently experienced one of the latest social media trends through the eyes of my middle-school aged niece, I realized that both you and I have a lot to catch up on.

Read More: Cyber-Bullying Prevention Starts Earlier Than You Think

Welcome to Instagram. Until now, I've seen my Facebook friends post photos through Instagram, and I thought it was just a cool and convenient way to share photos, giving it an old-school Polaroid feel. Sure, it is that -- but it's so much more. So here's the lowdown.

Read More: The Language Your Kids Are Learning Without You

1. It's Like Facebook 101 for Pre-Teens
Since Facebook bought Instagram for a mere $1 billion (a fact that my 13-year old nephew chimed in to remind me), it was a no-brainer once I learned more about it that it hit me: Instagram is really a crash course for kids on Intro to Social Networking. Why? Instagram goes one step further

Fail.I wrote a post a few months ago on becoming an early riser. While I still stand by the tips I provided to help others achieve that goal, I have since had to jettison the idea that consistent 5AM wake-ups are a tenable goal for me.

Since then, a few things have happened to show me that it was time to ditch the resolution. Anytime a conflict reared up -- I got sick, we traveled, I had overwhelming deadlines - in other words, life happened, I found it to be absolutely punishing to get up that early.

Read More: 10 New Year's Resolutions to Make as a Family

So what's the big deal? Well, for one thing, my pride. I was proud to be an early bird, and I had pretty much bragged about it in a public forum. I like to be honest, and so here I am, announcing a failure. But I'm nothing if not helpful, so I'd like other people to learn from my failure to stick to a resolution.

When a resolution that we feel is important seems out of reach, it's time to do a

Copyright Paul LepistoContrary to what you have been hearing from your kids -- that the key to happiness and peer acceptance is getting a (fill-in-the-blank-here) for Christmas -- you might be able to bless your kids with happiness and richer friendships by one simple act.

Read More: 6 Ways to Boost Your Happiness and Be a Positive Role Model for Your Kids

The Key to Happiness
Children from 9 to 11 years of age were split into two groups in a happiness and social acceptance study involving 400 students in Vancouver elementary schools. Teachers asked one group to "perform acts of kindness -- like sharing their lunch or giving their mom a hug when she felt stressed." The other half were asked to "keep track of pleasant places they visited -- like the playground or a grandparent's house."

Read More: 14 Ways to Help Your Child Defend Against Bullying

After four weeks practicing these small rituals, both groups of children scored higher in self-reported happiness. But the group that practiced

Where's Santa now?If Santa were allowed to join Facebook, he could give us real-time check-ins and status updates on Christmas Eve to tell us where he is on the map. If he just brought his cell phone along for the sleigh ride, tracking would be made simple.

Since Facebook won't let that happen, here's the next best thing that is sure to get your kids excited: the perfect Santa tracking app brought to you by NORAD.

Read More: 4 Reasons I Wish Santa Could Join Facebook

It's So Official, Even Non-Believers Will Wonder
Based in my home state of Colorado, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is a joint organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for North America. Besides protecting us every day, it's got another very important job -- to track Santa. Norad has been tracking Santa for over 50 years -- when the tradition began in 1955.

Read More: Can't Santa Just Make Me an Ipod? (So You Don't Have to Buy One!)

Gifts from Santa.If you ask a crowd of people whether presents from Santa should be wrapped or not chances are you will get answers split pretty much right down the middle. It seems that most people prefer whichever method they grew up with. I grew up in a house where Santa didn't wrap the presents, and I'm a firm believer in it, but not just because of the traditions of my family. Here are three reasons I believe Santa should skip the wrapping.

Read More: "The Elf on the Shelf" is a Holiday Tradition Worth Starting

1. Wrapping Increases Your Chances of Exposing the Truth about the Big Guy
When Santa wraps presents, he needs to use his own wrapping paper, not one from your closet. That means that you will have to buy an extra roll (or several) of wrapping paper, hide said roll from your children, and dispose of any excess pieces of that roll before your children spot it. Kids are very observant, and as soon as junior asks why Grandma's gift is wrapped in the same paper as his presents from

Michelle and Jim Bob DuggarWith so many family members, it's birthday time in our house quite often! We try to make birthdays a special time for the birthday person. Sometimes when a few birthdays are close together, we might do one big birthday party, but we still make sure to have one-on-one time with each birthday person. Dad and I will usually let them decide where they want to go to for lunch and then we spend the afternoon with them going to their favorite places.

Read More: 5 Cheap, Warm, and Fun Winter Birthday Party Ideas

The girls enjoy shopping at thrift stores and the boys like pawnshops. We'll take them around to find some of their favorite things for their birthday. They can get what they want for a fraction of the cost at these kinds of stores, so they get more for their birthday money.

Read More: 5 Inexpensive Places to Hold Your Kid's Birthday Party

We'll do a 7:00 ice cream party because we like ice cream instead of cake around here. Sometimes the kids will request pumpkin

Laura St. John's kiddos.My kids still believe in Santa, so it gets a little tricky when all they want for Christmas is very high-priced tech toys. They think they are doing me a favor by putting it on their list -- so Santa can just make it for them and I don't have to spend money on it. Yeah -- thanks.

Do high-priced tech toys top your child's wishlist? Here are some tips that may really help.

Read More: Do I Have to Buy My Kids Equal Presents for Christmas?

1. Flip This Simple Question Back to Them.
When your child says, all I want is an iPod, flip it back to him and ask, "Why?" Before you even consider purchasing a tech item, find out from your child why he wants it. Is it because his best friend got one? Is it because he wants to play games? Find out if it's even a reason that would be worth your consideration. My eight-year-old answered, "Because I want to facetime (video chat) with my cousins." Enough said. If I can help connect my son with his cousins 1800 miles away, then to me, the technology is

Red Moleskine plannerThree years ago, I gave up on trying to organize my life with technology. My cell phone calendar wasn't efficient enough; I wasted time trying to enter dates and times and locations, and hated having to abbreviate my thoughts. I tried iCal on my Mac but that was just inconvenient when I wasn't around my laptop, or if I had to start it up just to check a single detail. The "random bits of paper everywhere" method was also a failure and needs no further explanation. I realized something had to change because I was stressed out and disorganized.

Read More: How Ditching Technology Helped Me Get Things Done

That's when I splurged on my first-ever Moleskine planner. It was a beautifully old-fashioned, paper notebook-style planner, with a weekly layout on one side and a lined page for notes on the other. I chose a bright red one that would be easy to find in my purse. Soon it was full of crucial information that had previously been scattered throughout my house. For the first time in months,