Monday, March 26, 2007

New Dad Tech Talk

W: Like most folks, I am a big fan of inventions that make life easier. When our tennis ball-obsessed yellow Labrador was a puppy, he required 45 minutes of fetch every day. I quickly fell in love with the Chuck-It - an ingenious device that allows a dog lover to throw a ball for hours without getting tired or - and this is the best part - ever touching the ball. It costs $14, and it has had a profound effect on my life.

If you don't have kids or your kids are grown just trust me when I say that there has been an explosion of inventions that claim to be the new Chuck-It for parents. As to be expected, some inventions work, and others don't.

Here are some of the things that are working for us:

# 5. Baby Legs - I don't get excited about infant clothes, but these little items deserve special mention. Rather than outfitting the baby in pants to keep their legs warm, baby legs pull up like extra long thick socks that their feet fit through. This is a wonderful invention because unlike a pair of pants, you can leave the Baby Legs on when you change their diaper. Efficiency, folks - Twin Parenting is all about efficiency!

# 4. Sling Box - Sports fans, we have a winner. The Sling Box connects your TV cable box or TiVo to your Internet connection and "slings" the broadcast over your internal network wirelessly to you laptop. The picture is great, and I can watch March Madness in the nursery while rocking the Deuce to sleep. Booya.

# 3. Skype - Tons of people are on the Skype revolution, but it bears mentioning here because the service has brought us and our family so much joy. Our families are all on board, and we love keeping in touch via video conference. Oh yeah, and IT IS FREE!

# 2. TiVo - Simply awesome. We're totally down with it. We don't have time for commercials anymore anyway.

# 1. Insta-Hot - You know what I'm talking about, right? It's the hot water dispenser on a kitchen sink. The name should be changed to, "Insta-Sanitizer," or more aptly, "Parent's Best Friend." So now, when Chili Bean swipes a pacifier from one of the twins, or if a bottle falls on the kitchen floor, a quick one-two under the Insta-Hot, and we're on our way: happy babies, happy parents. Again, efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.

Posted by Walker Lockhart @ 2:01 PM