Secrets of Smart Moms — How to Make Your Kids Smarter on a Dime
The kids’ questions used to be: Mommy, how do you spell "foot"?
That’s easy. F-o-o-t. I explained further that "foot" is used for only 1, and "feet" for both of them. I also showed them how to pronounce "foot" and "food" correctly.
It was the time when everything they asked me was easy.
Now they ask me what kind of vaccines have they received. Um, measles, chicken pox, rubella? Are kids still receiving polio vaccine, with the disease already completely obliterated from the planet? I’m not sure.
Instead of typing "what vaccines do kids get" into my internet browser, I choose an easier (also lazier) way instead, by speaking it into the air: "Alexa, what vaccines do kids get?"
A second later (or maybe less, I’m not sure, since she’s fast), Alexa gives a very knowledgeable and detailed answer. The kids become a little smarter, and I feel a small satisfaction, proud of my newfound delegation skills.
Before the pandemic, parks used to be our destination for weekly excursions. We’re blessed to have an abundance of great parks, each with different amenities. Even luckier, we live in Southern California with access to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags and Legoland within an hour drive (2 hours for Legoland).
It’s okay to not know, do or have things
Now, I ask the kids to ask Alexa whenever I feel stumped on a question. The little device called Echo Dot from Amazon has became our personal assistant, that does anything from playing music, answering the most inquisitive questions and also playing games with them. However, we really like the alarm function, a.k.a. a smart disciplining method for adults and kids, let’s you divide chunks of time to learn and play (for kids), or to work and rest. We also tell Alexa to ring in 15 minutes after putting pizza in the oven.
You could probably retire your wall clock, since you just need to ask it out loud and Alexa would let you know.
Couldn’t get cheaper than this
We’ve had the smart little device for almost a year (it was $20 during the last Amazon Prime Day sale). Considering we use it daily, the cost per day is less than 10 cents. Seriously. What kind of things do you get for 10 cents nowadays? Let me Google — er — let me ask Alexa.
For Amazon Echo devices currently on the market, click this link.
For Amazon Kids setup on Echo devices, click here. Now on sale for $0.99 for 3 months until June 20.
Echo Dot Kids Edition includes one year of Amazon Kids+ and a 2-year worry-free guarantee.
Tips for using Echo devices with kids: NEVER order from Amazon from Alexa. You don’t want them copying your order and have thousands of dollars worth of popsicles suddenly show up on your door. I made a mistake of forgetting to log out of my Amazon account when my toddler played with my phone. Thank God he only ordered a Mario Brothers bag, and it was less than $15.
