Kids Party Dadgets - Part 1

I'm not a fan of party-planning myself, possibly linked to a dream I once had involving Margaret Thatcher and a bowl of car keys, but I feel that a few good Dadgets will see me through anything. Having children means that you'll end up arranging countless parties, so what are the Dadgets to look out for?

Let's start with the invitations. Why waste money and rainforests on paper invites when you can plan the whole shindig online for free? There is a wide range of party planning web sites that will allow you to send e-invites to your event and then monitor the RSVPs as they come rolling in electronically.

Dadgets for steamy hotel rooms

I recently stayed in a hotel room with a pretty awesome mirror in the bathroom. I’ve seen small shaving mirrors that claim to be fog-free, but this was a wall-sized mirror with a big fog free square in the middle. The genius of this gadget is that they could have probably made the whole mirror fog-free at little extra cost. But what's the point in that if nobody fully appreciates the cool technology? By having it part foggy, part clear, it’s a gadget that screams out, "Look at me, I’m cool! And I obscure your testicles after you shower!"

-by Craig Alan Williamson
Dadgets.info

Another baby monitor for iOS devices

Looks like smartphones are the new baby monitors – there are a number of super popular apps on pretty much all smartphone platforms that allow parents to use their phones as baby monitors. No surprises there ... we all carry around smartphones these days so why not make use of them as baby monitors when we're away from home (or even when at home). I've recently come across a very popular one called "Best Baby Monitor" (voted top 3 in parenting apps by babble.com) which is really easy to use and has a few features I haven't seen anywhere else. So I thought it was worth a giving it a quick DIYFather app-titude test.

Dad gadgets - flying fish

This is unreal ... check it out!

Enjoy,

Stef

Geek dad inventions #29 - CD drive rocking chair

Just brilliant ...

Thanks heaps to Shelley for sharing the link!

Enjoy,

Stef

Dads and Technology

The birth of your first child certainly marks a new chapter in your life. There’ll be no more sleeping until noon on a weekend, no more avoiding your mother-in-law, and certainly no more spontaneous sex on the kitchen table. However, the arrival of your little bundle of diarrhoea-dripping joy does not necessarily herald the end of buying expensive gadgets. In fact, fatherhood turns out to provide some pretty special opportunities for purchasing cool technologies or the cheapest tablets, and wife-approval is surprisingly easy to secure.

iPhone App helps dads to "get with it"

If you were to catch your teen texting or typing the acronym "PBS" and you're desperately trying to work out in your head what PBS could possibly stand for ... don't worry, you are not alone. These days our children are more likely to use TXTing, tweets and short updates on Facebook than to make an actual phone call. Consequently short codes or Internet speech is used in everyday vernacular. So "PBS" stands for more than just "Public Broadcasting System" ... in this case it's most likely to mean "Parent Behind Shoulder".

Fun with dad: mini table tennis

I just found this gem of a toy the other day - a mini table tennis set. It is JUST BRILLIANT! You can use it with children from the age of 3 ... but you can also use it on a Friday afternoon in the office for a round of office Olympics (show your co-workers who's daddy! ... or at least who is good at mini table tennis). The sets typically come with two paddles, a little net and net poles and a table tennis ball. All you need is a table. The poles have got suction cups so should work on all smooth table surfaces. It's all about half the size of a normal table tennis table (except for the ball) so don't actually need a lot of space.

Babies and Christmas - not your usual present

Craig at Dadgets.info has come up with a pretty unique Christmas present for your baby ...

If it's your child's first Christmas this year, or even second for that matter, you'll currently be wondering what to buy him/her for Santa's big day. Family and friends will be showering your little prince/princess with toys, clothes, things that make a mess, things that make a noise, things that make no sense whatsoever ... so how can you top that? If you're a practical scrooge then you might be so brave as to not buy anything at all – after all, what does a little baby know about receiving Christmas presents anyway. But if you take this route you risk feeling guilty for the rest of your life. And if your child ever discovers that you never bought anything for his/her first Christmas, you'll be hearing that for the rest of your life (especially at a time when he/she is choosing your retirement home). Luckily, I am here to help you avoid such pain and suffering.

iPhone Dads - check out the "Appvent Calendar"

Seasonal greetings to all iPhone Dads! Last year we reviewed 25 online advent calendars in the run up to Christmas. This year it's all gone a bit iPhone and some creative gaming company has come up with the "APPVENT CALENDAR". The website reveals a free iPhone game every day till Christmas. Download the game of the day at work and try it out with the kids when you get home.

Enjoy!

-Stef