MacGuyver: Improvised Baby Cam using Facetime

As the resident tech guy at Stunt Dad I like to find interesting and unique ways to integrate technology into daddyhood. And while there is no app that will replace daddy, there are some crazy cool tools to help elevate your game. This baby cam idea was a last minute improvisation to keep a watchful eye on Buddha while drinking a cold one out on the porch. Please note: also works as nanny cam, plumber cam, mommy cam and goth teenage baby sitter cam.

Ingredients:

• 2 Apple devices of any combination of either iPhone 4s, iPad 2s, or a Macs with video camera installed
• WiFi network
• 2 Facetime accounts

Instructions:

1. While away from the baby, use Facetime to call one of the devices from the other.
2. Turn down the volume on one of the devices and place it with the the video cam facing your sleeping baby. This way you can hear them, but they can't hear you.
3. Finally, take the other device out to the back deck with your friends while you keep a eye on your little one all comfy and cool inside. But remember if you exit the WiFi area of coverage, your call will be terminated.

Other homemade baby cam ideas? Let us know how in the comments.

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App of the Week: KidCalc

I just learned about a great math app for toddlers called KidCalc. It has several different number games for counting, recognizing and writing numbers and counting, but the best part is the addition and subtraction. The app talks and visually shows groups of objects merging together. Then asks your child to select how many objects there are from 4 multiple choice selections. It grabbed Monkey's attention right away and within 15 minutes he started knowing a few of the addition challenges from repetition. This is exactly what I was looking for to go to the next level of learning numbers and starting to understand the basics of addition and subtraction. The app provides several age settings: 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-10 and little genus so that you can manage the complexity of the problems displayed. It also allows granular control of items such as integer to count by (1,2,3 etc), lowest number, highest number, ascending, descending and a myriad of others. Check out KidCalc when you get a chance.

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App of the Week: Weather Done Right

We all know the joke. Weather people get paid good money to be right once in while. We would all love that kind of leniency in our own jobs, or even better, with parenting. Parenting is not going to get easier, nor are weather people going to get more accurate. Fortunately, there is an app that replaces the weather person and it is available whenever you want it. The Weather Channel iPhone is awesome and it turned a potentially lame day into a bunch 'o' fun.

Yesterday, the weatherman said it was going to rain. But instead of trusting the weather dude, I bought the Weather Channels iPhone app. In minutes I got a detailed radar map that showing rain everywhere, but Monkey's favorite playground was going to stay dry. So we headed out sans umbrella and enjoyed a day of pushing trucks in the sand, rolling balls down slides and chasing each other around in circles.

So if you want to plan your days around the weather with tighter tolerances, get yourself the Weather Channels iPhone app.

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Better Diaper Technology Please!

Are diapers as good as they can be? They hold a lot of crap, and we don't have to fumble with safety pins or whatever our parents did back in the dark ages. But c'mon, there is plenty of room for improvement. I for one can think of some frustrating items that make changing diapers at 3am a stinky task at best. Here are our requests for diaper 2.0.

1. Quick release. They are packed so tightly that when you get them out of the bag, you gotta' use 2 hands to unfold 'em. I've gotten to the point where I unfold a diaper and pull out the tabs before I pick up Buddha for his changing. But it sure would save a few precious moments if the diaper would spring into position ready to wrap around baby like Iron Man's exoskeleton suit of armor. I have a small tent that has carbon fiber polls sewn into the fabric. As soon as you take it out of the case it explodes into a tent. Ya!!!!!! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. As soon as that diaper is out of the bag it should be ready for installation.

2. Self releasing tabs! Lets get the most out of that quick release technology and apply it to the tabs too! If the diaper unfolds, the tabs should spring to attention ready to wrap around baby. Even though I get them ready before starting my diaper change routine, they snap back and attach themselves in the most inconvenient manner possible. There has got to be a solution that simplifies diaper installation and makes it more of a plug-and-play experience.

3. Hidden compartment for wipes. The wipes thinger is often empty—and when it's not—I end up pulling out a clump of them, then leaving none left in the thingy again. Or when at the zoo, I realize I forgot wipes all together. So I'm asking the diaper gods to install a couple of wipes in a hidden pouch. Just before changing junior, pull the quick release tab, grab the wipes, remove diaper, wipe butt, done.

4. Courtesy flap. So my wife taught me how to wrap up the poo in the diaper and tape it shut with the tabs to make the common poo-filled baseball. Problem is, my kids are over achievers when it comes to making stinky poo. I need a courtesy flap that can lay over the S#*t to help keep both it and the stink contained while wrapping up the poo baseball.

5. Blowout Alarm. With all the great apps and wireless technology, there should be a way to detect when a diaper is approaching leakage and make my phone play Break on Through (To the Other Side) by the Doors.

6. Scent Neutralizer. Let's take a cue from the car industry and offer customized scents. Fresh baby? Pine forest? Hell, even new car smell would rock it.

Those are a few ways that I think diapers can be taken to the next level. Anyone else have some suggestions?

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Would you GPS your kid?

A while back I thought I had a great idea. I would create a line of kids shoes that came with GPS tracking devices built into the soles. I would add in a couple of fun features for the parents like a pedometer so they could see how many miles those little feet can log in a day. But the core reason for buying the shoes would be to find their kid fast if they ever got lost. It would be insurance for one of parents' greatest fears. Like most of my brilliant ideas, this one was already taken to some extent.

None of the current players execute to my creative level (at least in my mind), but there are several companies that are making tracking devices for kids. Some just go in a pocket, while others strap onto shoelaces. Many use RF technology to communicate back to a hub device held by a parent. If the kid gets too far away from the hub, an alarm sounds. A quick search on Google or Amazon will bring up plenty of options that range from $50 bucks to hundreds of dollars.

Another option is to give your kid a smartphone. For example my wife and I were connected to each other through Google Latitude. She could see where I was on a map at all times, which came in handy when I was traveling and she just wanted to see how close I was to getting home. The same premise could work with tracking your kid. Give them a phone and setup Google Latitude.

So what do you think of tracking your kids? When discussing tracking with people I have received a wide range of reactions. Some think it is cool while others think it is creepy—but many simply have questions. Do privacy policies apply? Is it OK to put a GPS unit in your 5 year old's shoes? How about your 16 year old's? What about 14? Where would you draw the line? Would a tracking device instill a false sense of security and result in being less attentive?

To answer these I would ask our readers to chime in. What are your thoughts on using a tracking device to monitor your children? Have you tried one? What was your experience like? Would you recommend it to a friend?

Please let us know in the comments.

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3 iPhone Apps to help maintain sanity

At the Stunt Ben house, we no longer measure time in minutes, we measure in lengths of diversions. My two year old doesn't want to sit in his chair at restaurants for more than 1 and 1/2 chicken strips. He doesn't want to sit in the stroller for more than 3 storefront windows at a time and likes to kick the back of my car seat and has the endurance to do it for 3 showings of Toy Story 2 straight. The stress and tension of stringing together micro diversions can drive any dad to the limits of sanity. But our days of stringing together diversion after diversion are over. I have found salvation in the iPhone and these three magical apps.

1. Thomas the Tank Engine Game Pack by HIT Entertainment- 3 games in 1 $2.99
   This app has 3 games rolled into a single app. "Match the Engines" is a memory game in which your little monster will flip over cards and have to find matching pairs. It also gets them even more acquainted with the hundreds of characters in the Thomas the Train franchise...joy. It also comes with a touch screen puzzle in which kids have to put the picture of their favorite engine together. Finally a maze game that challenges little ones to place missing pieces of tracks together so Thomas can get to the end. This app has kept my buddy entertained for dozens of minutes (that's years in toddler attention span) and saved my sanity time and time again. And it seems educational. This app provides plenty of calm minutes, so my guess is that the ROI is about .01 cents per non-squirmy minute. That's a bargain!
2. Super WHY by ABC Kids - $2.99
   Like the aforementioned Thomas the Train app, this is an amalgamation of games which helps to string together periods of peacefulness even while your toddler jumps from activity to activity within the app. This app teaches letters, writing, rhyming and rudimentary sentence structure. The sentence part is beyond my guys' skill level, but the app still entertains and teaches him. I think this purchase will continue to hold his attention as his skills and understanding of letters, words and sentences expands. A high return on investment for $2.99.
3. AlphaBaby by Laura Dickey - $.99
   The free version is the App that got me and my son hooked on the iPhone, encouraged me to buy him an iPod Touch, and a plethora of kid apps there after. This App still holds a soft spot in my heart because it not only opened the door to a few peaceful moments while pushing the stroller (past 3 storefront windows), it also taught my 2 year old numbers, shapes, and the alphabet in about 5 days. I was amazed at how quickly he learned and enjoyed playing with this App. It's simple, you touch the screen and either a number, shape or letter appears with a voice saying what it is. If you want to add a personal touch, you can record your voice over the provided canned voice so your child learns these important lessons to your voice. If you are looking for a way to help your little one learn letters, numbers, and shapes, I highly recommend this App.

As you can tell from the descriptions, these Apps not only provide a little sanity to your crazed hectic days and nights, they also help your child learn as well as reinforce valuable early learnings.

Any recommendations for favorite children Apps? Please share your experiences and favorites in the comments section of this post.

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