Now I’m raising three kids in a world where screens are faster, smarter, and everywhere. And yet, my wife and I are trying to give our kids something that looks a lot like what we had.

We call it recreating a 90s childhood—with fewer ads and faster Wi-Fi.

The Tension Every Parent Feels

Here’s the thing: I want technology to make parenting easier. Video calls with grandparents, scheduling apps, educational games that buy us 20 minutes to clean the kitchen—these things help. A lot.

I’m proud that my 3-year-old can summon any song in existence by talking to the kitchen speaker, and my 5-year-old knows how to use the printer better than my wife.

But I’m also terrified. Terrified of addiction. Terrified of algorithmic rabbit holes. Terrified that my kids are losing something I can’t quite name—creativity, boredom, the ability to sit still without a screen.

I don’t think the answer is rejecting technology entirely. The answer is intention.

Our Family’s Rules (And Why They Work)

After a lot of trial and error—emphasis on error—we’ve landed on a set of tech rules that feel right for our family. They’re not perfect. They evolve. But they give us guardrails without turning every screen interaction into a battle.

1. No Short-Form Content

If it’s under 20 minutes, we probably don’t watch it.

YouTube Kids, TikTok-style content, those weird compilations where someone unboxes toys for 47 seconds before cutting to the next thing—all of it trains the brain to expect constant novelty. It’s designed to be addictive.

We stick to shows with actual narrative arcs. Bluey is the obvious exception (7 minutes, but worth every second). Everything we watch has a beginning, middle, and end. The kids have to follow something instead of just consuming.

2. No YouTube Kids

I know. YouTube Kids is supposed to be the “safe” option.

But here’s the thing: the algorithm doesn’t care about your kid’s development. It cares about engagement. And engagement often means bizarre, overstimulating content designed to keep little eyeballs glued to the screen.

We just skip it entirely.

3. Video Games Are a Group Activity

I realize it’s controversial to admit my 3-year-old and 5-year-old play video games. Given how much time older kids lose to them, I get why people are cautious.

Our rule: all games are played with an adult. I’ve played through Yoshi’s Crafted World with my son at least three times. We’ll both cherish eating all those Shy Guys for the rest of our lives! Even with single-player games, we make sure he’s not playing alone. (We messed this up a few times with Astro Bot, but it’s back under control now.)

You’ll notice these games have a beginning, middle, and end. We’re staying away from unlimited content like Roblox or Minecraft that can suck kids in for hours. Our views might shift as the kids get older—but that’s why the internet has a bedtime.

4. The Internet Has a Bedtime

Our TVs don’t have unlimited internet access. They’re on a schedule.

We use Firewalla to control when the TVs can connect to the internet. After a certain hour? The streaming apps just... don’t work. No negotiation. No “one more episode.” The TV becomes a non-option.

This works in addition to Apple’s Screen Time controls on the kids’ iPads. But we also just try to keep the iPads in a drawer unless we’re going on a trip.

💡 Why Firewalla? It’s a small device that sits on your home network and gives you granular control over every device. You can set schedules, block specific apps or sites, and see exactly what’s happening on your network. It’s not cheap, but for families serious about managing screen time at the network level, it’s been worth it.

The Goal Isn’t Zero Screens

I want to be clear: we’re not anti-technology. My kids use iPads. They watch TV. They play video games. Screens are part of modern childhood, and making them forbidden fruit just makes them more appealing.

But I want my kids to experience what I experienced—boredom that leads to creativity, shared experiences, and the understanding that screens are tools, not babysitters.

The 90s weren’t perfect. But there was something right about how technology fit into our lives back then: useful, but not all-consuming.

That’s what we’re trying to recreate. With better Wi-Fi.

Quick humidifier update: In previous posts I recommended the BlueAir InvisibleMist evaporative humidifier. Two of them stopped working recently, so I replaced them with the Vornado EV100. I’ve only been using it for about a week, so I can’t fully endorse it yet.

Kids get mad sometimes.

They don’t have full control over their emotions, and when that switch flips, everything within arm’s reach becomes a potential projectile. There’s yelling. Sometimes things break. Then, eventually, they calm down.

Afterward, everyone looks around wondering where that came from… and why we couldn’t have skipped straight to the calm, reflective part.

In our house a few weeks ago, the thing that broke was the TV. The crack in the screen wasn’t large, but it was just deep enough to turn a very expensive piece of technology into a very large, very useless rectangle.

The two sane options

If you want a nice TV and you have kids in the house, I think there are basically two reasonable paths:

1. Don’t buy a nice TV.

2. Buy the nice TV, and plan for the day it gets damaged.

That “plan” can mean buying insurance. Or it can mean setting aside money and accepting that you might have to replace it earlier than you expected.

Why this matters more now

This matters more in 2026 than it ever has, because almost nothing is truly repairable anymore, and TVs are near the top of that list. Once the panel is damaged, you’re basically done. Repairing it often costs about as much as replacing the entire TV (or more).

And that’s a shame, because modern TV screens are basically magic. Millions of tiny pixels, perfectly aligned, producing colors that look better than real life. LED panels are hard to manufacture. Quantum dot panels are even harder. OLEDs are an engineering miracle.

Despite all that complexity, they rarely fail… as long as no one throws anything at them.

If you have kids, accidental damage isn’t a weird edge case. It’s part of the risk model.

What I’m doing (and what you should consider)

So if you’re like me and you want a nice TV in a house with kids, accidental damage coverage is worth serious consideration.

Right now, I use Akko’s home tech plan. But you might be able to get similar coverage through your existing homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.

The key is this: make sure the policy explicitly covers accidental damage.

Quick note on extended warranties

An extended warranty usually won’t help you here. A flying remote doesn’t count as a manufacturing defect. And paying out of pocket for a new TV hurts a lot more than planning ahead.

The Unavoidable Germs

Once the school year starts, it’s only a matter of time before your kids bring something home. You can’t avoid every virus, but you can make your home a little more comfortable while your immune system does its thing.

Humidifiers

Do yourself a favor and get an evaporative humidifier. I wrote a whole post about these last year, but it’s worth repeating: keeping your home’s humidity at a healthy level makes a huge difference. You’ll sleep better and stop waking up with that “sandpaper throat” feeling.

Just make sure you keep your humidifier clean—a dirty one is worse than none at all. Evaporative humidifiers don’t collect grime as quickly and are much, much easier to clean.

Note: A previous version of this post recommended the BlueAir InvisibleMist Humidifer, but after about a year of use, I had two stop working. I haven’t been able to test another one yet long enough to recommend it unfortunately.

Rechargeable Hand Warmers

If you ever have to walk outside when it’s 20 degrees, pick up a pair of magnetic rechargeable hand warmers. They’re inexpensive, charge like your phone, and snap together when not in use. Your fingers will thank you.

👉 Here’s a good one on Amazon.

Neti Pots and Nasal Irrigation

I won’t sugarcoat it—this one’s kind of gross. But if your kids are constantly bringing home new respiratory bugs, nasal irrigation can be a lifesaver.

I won’t go deep into the details (there are plenty of YouTube demos for that), but here’s what matters: always use distilled water for safety, and follow the instructions carefully.

You won’t feel instantly cured, but you’ll breathe easier and recover faster. Paired with something like Afrin for short-term relief, this routine helps me stay functional—even when I inevitably catch whatever’s going around.

A Preconditioning Electric Car

I know—you’re not buying a new car just because of this post. But if you already have (or are considering) an EV, preconditioning is one of its most underrated perks.

My wife’s favorite feature of our electric car is that it can warm up (or cool down) before we even step outside. Sure, gas cars have remote start, but you have to remember to use it, and it can’t run safely in a closed garage. With an EV, you just tap your phone and the car quietly adjusts the temperature—no fumes, no hassle, just comfort waiting for you

Conclusion

Keep the air moist, your hands warm, your sinuses clear, and your car cozy. You can’t stop winter, but you can definitely make it a lot more comfortable.

You’ve probably seen ads for Mint Mobile or MetroPCS but ignored them—figuring your Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T plan must be better. And once upon a time, it was. But the gap has narrowed dramatically. These days, the “discount” carriers are often just rebranded versions of the same networks you’re already using. In fact, most of the big carriers have quietly launched their own budget brands—Visible (Verizon), Cricket Wireless (AT&T), and Metro (T-Mobile)—offering the exact same coverage for roughly half the price.

The Big Carriers Know You’re Overpaying

It’s not a secret. Anytime someone offers you a “free” $1,000 phone in exchange for a three-year commitment, it’s obvious they’re making that money back somewhere. For cell carriers, that “somewhere” is your monthly bill—an extra $20 or $30 tacked on per line, plus the usual alphabet soup of mysterious fees.

Let’s put real numbers to it.

The Math

My Verizon plan, after every discount imaginable—$20/month for customer loyalty and another $10 for bundling with Fios—still ran $55 per line for unlimited data. I also had a connected device plan for my Apple Watch. On paper, it was $10. After fees? $15.

So, $70/month for one phone and one watch.

Now, Verizon did credit me $20/month for my phone, but only if I kept upgrading every three years. So really, I was paying $50/month, before account-level fees.

When I switched to Visible (Verizon’s own discount brand), I got the same phone and watch setup for $30/month, all in. No hidden fees. No contracts. No games.

And if another carrier lights up the Hudson River Tunnel with better 5G next month, I can switch tomorrow.

E-SIMs Make It Easier Than Ever

If you haven’t tried switching carriers recently, it’s almost laughably easy now. Modern phones use eSIMs, which means you can activate a new carrier directly from your couch—no store visits, no physical SIM card, no waiting for anything in the mail. Just download the app, click “add eSIM”, and you’re up and running in minutes.

The One Catch

There is one tradeoff: data prioritization. During peak congestion, the big carriers give preference to their premium customers, so your discount plan might slow down temporarily. But in practice, it rarely matters. The networks are fast enough now that you’ll barely notice—unless you’re streaming 4K video in a packed stadium.

Bottom Line

If you’re still paying full price for one of the major carriers, you’re not getting better service—you’re just paying more for the same signal. Switching takes ten minutes, costs half as much, and you’ll still be on the same towers.

It’s time to stop paying extra for a logo on your bill.

Now? The internet is real life. It’s work meetings, streaming the game, smart home routines, and your kids’ homework assignments. A lost connection doesn’t just slow things down—it can grind your whole day to a halt.

When You Live Where the Internet Still Sucks

In big cities, most homes are hooked up to reliable fiber lines. But in places like mid-Missouri, where I grew up, some neighborhoods still rely on the old cable companies—where “service” often means waiting several days for repairs.

I still remember calling my ISP in college during their so-called “upgrade” period. The internet would go out every other day. When I called support, their advice?

“Yeah, that’s going to happen while we’re swapping out the connections. Just unplug the router and plug it back in.”

Translation: the outages weren’t a bug—they were a feature.

I tried switching to another provider (one of the few perks of living in a neighborhood with options), only to find the new company somehow even worse.

That was a decade ago. These days, there are much better ways to make sure you never lose connection.

1. Get Internet from Multiple Sources

Cable isn’t your only option anymore. Most major mobile carriers now offer home internet over 5G, and for remote areas, satellite services like Starlink are becoming more reliable and affordable.

Here’s the smart move: combine two sources.

Use a Dual-WAN Router

These routers let you connect to two different internet sources (like cable + 5G) and automatically switch over if one goes down.

• Best overall: Firewalla – super reliable, built-in monitoring, and dead-simple to use.

• Budget pick: TP-Link Dual-WAN Router – cheaper and solid if you’re okay with a little tinkering.

Set it up with wired internet as your primary and 5G or satellite as the backup. In some places, 5G is just as fast—or even faster—than cable, but wired still tends to win on consistency.

2. Use a Mobile Hotspot for Backup

If your internet is mostly stable, you may not need two full-time providers. A mobile hotspot can be a great backup for occasional outages.

You can:

• Add a dedicated hotspot to your cell plan (they still exist!)

• Use your phone’s hotspot in a pinch

• Or, for something more automatic…

Try Eero’s Wireless Backup

Eero offers a backup system where your mesh network switches to a mobile hotspot if your primary internet goes down. It works best if you leave a hotspot plugged in near one of your Eero nodes.

Bonus: some mobile hotspots even include Ethernet ports, meaning you can plug them into your dual-WAN router and really automate the failover.

Don’t Let a Drop in Connection Derail Your Day

You don’t need to suffer through outages anymore—especially not in 2025. With the right setup, your internet can be as redundant as your data backups. Whether you’re in a fiber-rich city or a cable-dependent town, there’s a solution out there to keep you connected.

Then reality hit: astronaut gigs are few and far between, mostly reserved for rocket scientists, military pilots… or celebrities.

But for Generation Alpha? They might actually be able to build anything—at least, anything that fits on a screen.

I have a long train commute, which is how this newsletter got started. When I’m not writing, I spend that time tinkering—building apps, testing tools, exploring what AI can do for solo developers like me.

Originally, I was coding most things by hand and using ChatGPT to fill in the gaps. But in just the past year, AI-assisted software building has gone from “helpful co-pilot” to “just hand it the wheel.”

Last year I wrote about how I was struggling to get my 4-year-old son to follow the rules of board games. commented on that post suggesting an AI tool that helps explain to kids how to play.

I gave it a shot in Replit, and each attempt—spaced out over a few months—got better. Part of that was me improving my prompts. But the bigger shift? The AI itself got smarter.

So one night in March, while I waited for my kids to fall asleep, I grabbed my phone, opened the Replit app, and gave it one more try.

A few prompts later… I had a working checkers game with real-time move suggestions.

Introducing: Checkers Master

An AI-powered checkers trainer you can play in your browser.

Built on a combination of the MiniMax algorithm and an LLM, Checkers Master gives:

• Tactical move suggestions at every turn

• Strategic tips to help you control the board

• Performance tracking over time

It’s not perfect—but considering most of it was built quickly on my phone, it’s kind of amazing.

Just a few years ago, implementing the MiniMax algorithm which selects the computer’s moves took me several hours. Now? I’m getting playable prototypes while sitting in the dark waiting for a toddler to fall asleep.

If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is.

#1: The Snoo

We were lucky our first baby came after the Snoo hit the market. A coworker recommended it, and wow—lifesaver.

That said, I highly recommend renting it instead of buying. Our second baby didn’t need it, so we sent it back after just two months.

Some kids really just don’t appreciate how good they have it.

So, what makes the Snoo magical?

It’s a smart bassinet that gently rocks your baby and plays white noise to soothe them to sleep. That alone is great—but here’s the real game-changer:

To keep the rocking safe, the Snoo requires a special swaddle that secures your baby on their back.

For me, the hardest part of those newborn nights wasn’t the rocking—it was the anxiety after laying them down. Are they safe? Are they still breathing? With the Snoo’s swaddle, I felt so much more at ease knowing they were securely positioned.

#2 A TV, an Apple TV and a HomePod Mini

You’re going to be awake at weird hours doing very little. Maybe you’re the type who can crack open a textbook at 3am while feeding the baby. But if you’re like me, you’re going to be watching Parks and Rec or reruns of The Office.

The challenge? Watching without waking the baby.

The Snoo helps—it creates a little sound bubble around the bassinet. But if your TV is across the room, the volume has to travel over the baby to get to you.

Here’s the fix: Use an Apple TV paired with a HomePod Mini. Set the HomePod as the default audio output and place it on your nightstand. Now you’ve got crystal-clear sound right next to you without cranking the TV volume. Bonus: You can pair two HomePods if both parents want in.

#3 The Fisher-Price Glow & Grow Kick and Play Gym

🎶 Maybe you could be… a purple monkey in a bubblegum tree… 🎶

That song lives in my head rent-free.

Your baby won’t always be asleep or feeding—they’ll need a place to lie down and kick around. There are a million play gyms out there, but none with music as catchy as the Fisher-Price one.

I’ve heard its songs easily 1,000 times—and I still find myself singing along. It’s genuinely fun, and it keeps your baby entertained. Highly recommend.

Note: Most of these strategies work best for kids over 2.5 years old. For kids under 2, there’s no sugarcoating it — flying is just going to be rough.

Invest in Good Bluetooth Headphones

or kids under 3, keeping headphones on can be tricky. Even the smallest pairs tend to slip off, but the best option I’ve found is the BuddyPhones Cosmos+. My 4-year-old wears them consistently and understands that’s where the sound comes from. My 2-year-old will wear them occasionally, though they often slide around her head.

The BuddyPhones Cosmos+ offer a few key features that make them ideal for travel:

• Volume Limiting: You can set a maximum volume to protect your kids’ hearing. This works best over Bluetooth — volume limiting is less reliable with wired connections.

• Active Noise Cancelling: This helps block out airplane noise, so they can hear their show clearly even at lower volumes.

If you want to dive deeper into how volume limiting works and recommended volume levels, check out this guide.

Pro Tip

If you or your spouse use AirPods, make sure your kids’ devices aren’t signed into your Apple ID. If they are, you’ll want to bring a backup pair of headphones for yourself. Otherwise, every time you put in your AirPods, they’ll automatically disconnect your kid’s headphones. There’s no reliable way to prevent this — trust me, I’ve tried.

TSA Pre-Check is a Lifesaver

If you travel regularly, you probably know about TSA Pre-Check — but if you haven’t signed up yet, do it before your first trip with kids. The process is simple: a quick in-person appointment, then $80 for five years of convenience.

With TSA Pre-Check, you can:

• Keep Your Shoes On: Normally a small perk, but a game-changer when you’re juggling kids, bags, and possibly a pregnant spouse.

• Leave Electronics in Your Bag: At airports that require separate bins for every device, families can end up with five or more bins. Meanwhile, your toddler is trying to sprint through the metal detector solo — not ideal.

Pre-Check drastically reduces the chaos.

Always Bring a Stroller (Even If Your Kids Don’t Need It)

Even if your kids prefer sprinting through the terminal or sliding across the shiny airport floors (speaking from personal experience), always bring a stroller. Not for the kids — for your stuff.

A stroller is perfect for carrying:

• Backpacks

• Roller bags you can’t manage with only two hands

• Coats, snacks, and everything else you somehow ended up responsible for

If your kids are on the older side, consider a foldable wagon (like this one) or a cheap stroller you won’t mind getting banged up. Don’t worry about size because you’ll always have to gate check it, no matter how compact it folds. On the bright side, that’s one less thing to awkwardly maneuver down the airplane aisle.

This is great… but it also worries me.

I don’t want my kids to think of computers as magical black boxes. Not because I expect them to become engineers, but because a basic understanding of how things work builds confidence. Confidence that they don’t always need to run to Mom or Dad—or worse, the Genius Bar—when something breaks.

Millennials like me had an unfair advantage in learning tech: our Boomer parents had no idea how to use it. If we wanted to play a game, we had to figure out how to install drivers. If the family computer stopped connecting to the internet, we had to fix it or no one got online. That trial-and-error education turned us into the family IT department.

So, I’ve decided to pass some of that hands-on experience down.

For my son’s fifth birthday, we’re going to build a computer. Not a full-blown, high-end PC—he’s not quite ready for a MicroCenter shopping spree—but a simple, inexpensive project with a Raspberry Pi Starter Kit. We’ll assemble it, connect a monitor, and install Ubuntu from the command line.

Will he fully grasp what we’re doing? Probably not. But he’ll see that computers aren’t just magic—they’re something he can understand, experiment with, and even fix.

And that’s a start.

This isn't a political newsletter, so I won’t share my opinions on the current administration versus the previous one. However, I will share something a political science professor once told me in college: never assume the other side has bad intentions. That advice has helped me maintain a clearer perspective over the years. Misguided? Idiotic? Even dangerous? Perhaps. But evil? Probably not.

Even if you don’t see them as evil, you might still think that people on the other side are either elitists or uninformed. But I promise, when you engage with their best arguments, your perspective will shift.

Enough preaching. Here are the best ways to consume the news without getting trapped in a one-sided echo chamber.

Apple News+

If you have an iPhone or iPad, Apple News+ is the best value for accessing diverse news sources. While the standard Apple News app provides some content, News+ unlocks full access to The Wall Street Journal and a variety of magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, Bloomberg Businessweek, and National Review.

These sources offer a wide range of viewpoints, helping you stay informed without falling into ideological silos. However, major publications only tell part of the story—you'll want to look beyond them as well.

Top News Substacks

Listing every worthwhile newsletter would take all day, so here are some of my favorites with brief descriptions:

- One of the most successful Substacks out there. Consistently anti-authority, as good journalism should be.

- Always insightful, Andrew Sullivan has been doing this longer than I’ve been alive.

- My favorite liberal Substack. Matt Yglesias, a Vox.com co-founder, offers sharp analysis.

Better Conflict Bulletin - A newsletter dedicated to understanding why polarization is increasing and how we can reverse that trend.

- A recent favorite, written by a 23-year-old from Missouri (bonus points for the home state). Well-written and thoughtful, it reminds me of the great .

- Love him or hate him, Nate Silver calls balls and strikes based on what his models tell him. Sometimes he’s wrong, but typically he’s less wrong than everybody else.

by - Best known for nicknaming Goldman Sachs “The Great Vampire Squid,” Taibbi left Rolling Stone when they resisted his reporting on whether "Russiagate" was overblow. He remains fiercely anti-establishment.

Particle & Ground News

In college, I spent many a morning in a studio across from the Journalism school writing and editing videos for Newsy, which was eventually absorbed into Scripps News. Newsy’s mission was to aggregate multiple sources into short videos that provided a well-rounded view of the news.

It worked well, but producing news that simply confirms viewers' existing beliefs is far more profitable.

Today, Particle and Ground News carry on that mission by summarizing stories from multiple sources and ranking them by ideological lean.

Particle leans heavily on AI to determine ideological bias and summarize content, whereas Ground News takes a more traditional approach. Both apps are worth exploring if you're looking for balanced news coverage.

Like most four-year-olds, the first couple of days were easy enough—TV and naps kept him occupied. But as his symptoms improved (without fully disappearing) and his interest in Paw Patrol wore thin, he needed more mental stimulation. Luckily, we had a few boxes of IKEA furniture waiting to be assembled.

We started with a desk chair, which was quick and easy. Then we moved on to the matching desk, which took a few hours. Finally, on Day 9 of his home confinement, we tackled the biggest project: a Kura bunk bed for his sister. If you’re not familiar, the Kura is an affordable, fun bed that’s a favorite on mom blogs.

We got off to a strong start assembling the sides. The main challenge? The screws became too tough for him to turn halfway in, but that didn’t stop him from eagerly starting every single one. Some parts were numbered, which turned into a fun scavenger hunt for him. Thankfully, most of the other parts were interchangeable, so we never had to backtrack or redo anything—a minor miracle when building IKEA furniture.

The internet claimed it would take about two hours to assemble. With my little “helper,” it took around 3.5 hours. But it was an engaging, somewhat educational activity that kept him busy for most of the afternoon.

So, are the kids actually sleeping in it?

My daughter has been sleeping on a mattress we placed on the lower bunk (which is essentially just the floor). My son has attempted to sleep in the top bunk, but it’s still a bit too exciting for him. We’ll keep trying whenever he’s up for it.

The ultimate goal is to have them share a room so we can give his old room back to the cats—who’ve been really roughing it for the past four years.

He’s not ready to advertise his assembly skills on TaskRabbit just yet, but with each project, he’s getting a little more capable.

Pro Tip

If you plan on buying IKEA furniture, invest in a screwdriver with hex bits. Using an Allen wrench for hours is a recipe for sore hands and slow progress.

Suddenly, I needed to figure out how to let family visit the baby with minimal risk. That’s when I realized our one (overpriced) air purifier was garbage. (What can I say? I’m a sucker for anything that connects to WiFi and looks like a spaceship.)

After some research, I found that the Coway Airmega was both cheaper and far more effective. Problem solved, right? I wish.

We managed to stay healthy for a long time, even after my son started daycare. Living in an affluent New York suburb probably helped—everyone stayed home, and schools for older kids were shut down for over a year. Personally, I thought that was way too long. The immune system needs exercise, and northern Jersey has been paying for it ever since.

When we finally did get sick, the Coways were still running, but my focus shifted from air purifiers to humidity. Maintaining proper humidity in an entire house without forced-air heating is a nightmare—especially this far north.

After testing a bunch of humidifiers, I realized most of them are disgusting and a pain to clean. Unless you’ve got 20 gallons of distilled water, enough vinegar to fill a bathtub, and half an hour each week to scrub every humidifier in the house, they’re probably doing more harm than good. It takes almost no time for a standard humidifier to get…gross.

This year, I finally found a solution: evaporative humidifiers. They’re not as efficient at pumping out mist as ultrasonic ones, but they’re far less likely to degrade your air quality.

Evaporative humidifiers work by pulling water through a filter and using a fan to push moisture into the room. For a while, we used BlueAir InvisibleMist Humidifiers and liked the basic idea: the tank is dishwasher-safe, and because everything runs through a filter you can usually go a long time without deep-cleaning. But after two of ours stopped working, I don’t use (or recommend) these BlueAir units anymore. I’ve started using the Vornado EV100, but I haven’t had it long enough to make a recommendation.

After years of struggling with shovels and an underpowered snow blower, I’ve found a system that keeps my driveway spotless and my lower back intact. Here’s what works for me:

The Right Snow Blower: Ego Power+ Two-Stage Snow Blower

I started with a 40-volt Greenworks Snow Blower, but it didn’t hold up against more than two inches of snow. Enter the EGO Power+ Snow Blower—a game-changer.

Marketed as having the power of a gas blower, this cordless snow blower lives up to the hype. My driveway stretches over 100 yards and is wide enough for 1.5 cars, yet this beast clears it effortlessly.

• No Gas, No Fuss: No more dealing with fuel or maintenance hassles.

• Self-Propelled: Makes clearing snow easy on your back.

• Kid-Friendly: My son loves walking behind it while I guide the handles.

This is my third winter using it, and it’s just as reliable as the first day. Greenworks now offers more powerful models, but if you want a snow blower that’s strong and dependable, the EGO Power+ is worth every penny.

Even Salt Distribution: Scotts Wizz Spreader

Until last year, I spread salt by hand or poured it straight from the bag. Not only was it wasteful, but it also made the process harder than it needed to be. Enter the Scotts Wizz Spreader.

This battery-powered spreader evenly distributes salt, saving time and effort:

• Less Salt, More Savings: You’ll likely use much less salt while still getting great results.

• Kid-Approved: The electric spinner makes it fun for kids to help out.

Thanks to this tool, I’ve cut my salt usage in half, stretching a single bag through multiple snowstorms.

Keep the Kids Busy: A Kid-Friendly Shovel

Don’t forget the little helpers! Kids love joining in, so give them a task. We use a small red plastic shovel that my son has enjoyed since he was one. Letting them “help” not only keeps them entertained but also turns snow removal into a fun family activity.

Bonus Tip: Buy Sleds in the Summer

If you’re a first-time parent, here’s a pro tip: buy sleds in the summer. Infant sleds, in particular, are nearly impossible to find after the first snow. Set a reminder on your phone for June, and snag one on Amazon while they’re in stock—and maybe even discounted!

A Final Word of Advice

Snow removal doesn’t have to be a back-breaking chore. With the right tools and a little preparation, you can make it a quick and even enjoyable part of winter. Stock up, bundle up, and keep that driveway clear—you’ll thank yourself later.

Have a favorite snow-removal hack or tool? Share it in the comments—I’d love to hear your tips!

Most TVs Are Too Small

The average person spends 3 hours a day watching TV. If your screen feels more like a postage stamp than a portal to another world, it’s time to rethink your setup.

That TV you tucked into a cabinet back in the 90s might have been perfect for your square 20-inch set. But today’s flat screens often look awkward in those spaces—and worse, they’re too small to enjoy from the couch.

While it’s tempting to downplay the TV’s role in your living room, let’s face it: for most of us, the primary activity in that space is watching TV. Don’t sacrifice comfort for aesthetics, especially if the only time you appreciate a smaller TV is during the rare family board game night.

How to Pick the Right TV Size

The most important factor you need to consider is the distance of your seat from the screen. There are calculators online that can help, but most are focused on theater rooms and will size the TV too large. Here’s a simplified guide:

• 10+ feet away: Go big—75 inches or more. (Or move the couch forward)

• 6-10 feet away: 55-65 inches works well.

• Under 6 feet away: 43 inches is fine, but smaller than that? Just use your laptop.

For Bedrooms: Go one size smaller than you’d choose for a living room. A 55-inch screen is usually sufficient unless your seating is over 15 feet away. In that case, consider a 65-inch screen—but remember, a giant black rectangle may dominate the room. If you’re going big, consider a Frame TV to mitigate this.

Pro Tip: Test with Your Phone

Here’s a quick trick: from your usual TV-watching spot, hold up your phone and play a video. If the video on your phone feels larger than what you see on your TV, it’s definitely time for an upgrade.

Stop putting your TV above the Fireplace

No matter how big your TV is, please don’t mount it above the fireplace—unless you’re seated 20+ feet away. Otherwise, you’re risking neck strain for aesthetics.

Sure, it might look nice up there, but think about your primary activity in that room. If it’s not watching TV consider skipping the TV entirely or use a projector.

In most homes (based on my extremely scientific observations), the fireplace-mounted TV is the main TV, and the fireplace itself rarely gets used. Move the TV to a more ergonomic spot—your neck will thank you.

It wasn’t for lack of exposure. My mom read the first four Harry Potter books to me when I was a kid, and I devoured audiobooks regularly. But reading for fun on my own? That just didn’t happen.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t read. I could manage just fine in school and even enjoyed reading aloud in class. But sitting alone, working through hundreds of pages felt... overwhelming.

Reflecting on my experience, I realize the problem wasn’t just me—millennials had a lot of distractions from video games, cable and the early Internet. Kids today face an even tougher battle against the ever-growing distractions of screens and instant entertainment.

Interestingly, while kids’ reading scores on tests haven’t changed much over the years, the time they spend reading for fun has dropped significantly.

So, how do I plan to help my kids avoid the same pitfalls?

Designing A Path That’s Not Too Steep

I’m not sure why I didn’t dive into chapter books when my friends did, but I know that the longer I waited, the more daunting it became.

That’s why I’m focusing on giving my 4-year-old an easier path into reading. He’s already learning the basics in school, but I want reading to feel rewarding—like something he wants to do.

We’ve been using Reading.com’s iPad app, which reinforces foundational skills and contains short books at the end of each lesson he can read on his own. It’s satisfying for him to complete a story, and it builds his confidence bit by bit. We can also tell that it’s working because he’s started reading sentences outside of the app with a lot more confidence.

We do this together a few nights a week. The goal isn’t to have him a year ahead of his peers by the time he starts elementary school. In fact, I think being ahead in kindergarten hurt my ability to focus.

Instead, I want him to feel that reading is approachable and enjoyable from the start.

Building a Space for Reading

As I got older, I discovered something that helped me: having a dedicated space for focused work.

At home, no matter how much I tried to unplug, my bedroom always felt like a hub for distractions. But in college, I learned I could trick my brain into productivity simply by going to the library. The moment I walked through those doors, it was like a mental switch flipped—this was where I got things done.

We’ve tried to create a similar setup at home for our kids. We have a room that’s just for reading, drawing, (eventually) homework, and other focused tasks. While there’s a computer in it, my son only uses it for educational activities like Khan Academy math. The goal is to keep the space defined—a place where distractions don’t belong. Hopefully, over time, he’ll associate that room with quiet concentration and focus.

Preserving Memories: A Personal Responsibility

This experience made me think: am I storing these videos in the safest, most cost-effective way? Plus, I volunteered to digitize my wife’s family videos a few years ago, making me responsible for preserving her family’s memories too.

Here’s how I ensure we never lose these precious moments:

1. Sync with the Cloud

Since our phones double as our primary cameras, backing up photos is simple. Just enable iCloud Photos or Google Photos, which automatically sync your latest captures.

Additionally, Amazon Photos offers free photo backups for Prime members, plus 5GB of free video storage. By using both iCloud and Amazon Photos, I immediately have my photos saved in two places. But what about videos and other important files?

2. Create a Local Backup

Even with cloud storage, keeping a local copy is essential.

The safest option is using a RAID storage device like a Synology or QNAP. RAID devices store multiple copies of your files across different hard drives, providing redundancy in case of hardware failure. For most households, a two-drive setup is sufficient unless you’re managing a video production studio.

I use a Synology NAS to store keepsakes, Blu-Ray backups, and full Time Machine backups of our laptops. If RAID sounds like overkill, a simple USB or network-attached hard drive works too. However, RAID offers the advantage of automatic data repair if a drive fails

3. Backup your Backup

“If you have one copy of a file, you have no copies. If you have two copies, you have one.” — A wise person, probably

To truly protect your data, store a full backup at a second location, like a safe deposit box or a friend’s house.

Synology devices can replicate data to another Synology offsite, though I’ve struggled with ports, firewalls, and other technical issues. Still, it’s a solid long-term solution for those up for the challenge.

Alternatively, several cloud services can back up your entire drive, though they can be expensive.

The simplest method? Copy your backup to a second hard drive and store it offsite. A 4TB drive costs around $100 and should suffice for most people.

Gifts for Everyone on your List

1. Anker 25W USB-C Super Fast Charger (2-Pack for $16): For just $16, you get two charging bricks and two USB-C to USB-C cables. These 25-watt bricks will fast-charge nearly every phone and tablet on the market. (Yes, technically the iPhone 16 charges at ~30 watts, but if your family member knows that, they probably already have a fast charger.)

   

2. Anker 25W USB C Charger Block ($10): A compact GaN charger with the same speed as pick #1 but about one-third the size.

3. TwelveSouth Forté Apple Watch Charger ($8): An affordable, stylish Apple Watch charging stand. The actual watch charger isn’t included, but let’s be honest—if they have an Apple Watch, they already have a charger to use with this.

4. Anker 100W USB C Charger Block ($35): This one’s a bit pricier, so maybe not for everyone on your list. But it’s an excellent deal on a powerful, versatile charger that can handle any USB-C or A device with its three ports.

Bonus Find: Power Bank Alert!

I couldn’t let you miss this one: the Anker Prime Power Bank is 40% off at $54. It features a hefty 9,600mAh battery and a 65-watt output.

Why it’s awesome: It doubles as a charging brick when plugged in and recharges itself simultaneously. When you’re on the go and can’t plug in, it works as a portable power bank. A fantastic gift for anyone who works away from home or travels frequently.

But fear not!

I have a foolproof strategy to give everyone on your list a gift they’ll actually use: a charger. What kind of charger? I’m glad you asked!

Over the past decade, chargers have consistently improved. And every year, the top-of-the-line models from last year are now affordable enough to give to everyone on your list.

Here are the most useful charging advancements from recent years to consider. (If you don’t care about the details and just want recommendations for chargers to buy this year, feel free to skip ahead.)

A Quick Note on “Watts”

Understanding watts is key to choosing the right charger for speed and compatibility. Both charging bricks and cables have maximum wattage ratings, and your charging speed is limited by the lowest-rated component. As a general guide:

• 15+ watts: Charges a phone quickly.

• 30+ watts: Charges a phone very quickly and can charge most laptops slowly.

• 45+ watts: Charges most laptops.

• 65+ watts: Charges nearly everything.

• 90+ watts: Charges laptops quickly.

Gallium nitride (GaN)

Gallium nitride has largely replaced silicon in modern chargers. GaN chargers are smaller, more powerful, and produce less heat. Belkin has a more detailed explainer here.

The easiest way to spot a GaN charger? It’s compact yet incredibly powerful. One standout is Anker’s Nano Charger.

Wireless Charging (Qi & Qi2)

Wireless charging remains one of the most under-appreciated innovations of the last decade. Nearly every smartphone today can charge just by sitting on a flat surface. Pause for a moment to consider how futuristic that would have seemed just 10 years ago.

You simply set your phone down, and it charges. Amazing!

A few years ago, I went all-in and bought Twelve South’s PowerPic for everyone in my family. (It was half-off at the time but still pricey.) The PowerPic is a 10-watt wireless charger that doubles as a photo frame. I added a picture of my son to each frame and jokingly told my family their phones would charge fastest with his photo inside. Many of them still use it—though they’ve updated the pictures.

More recently, magnetic chargers have solved the issue of misaligned devices. Last year, I gifted everyone a Belkin MagSafe charger to keep their devices perfectly aligned for optimal charging.

High Quality Cables

If your family doesn’t need any of the fancy nonsense I’ve mentioned above, they’ll still need some quality cables. For anyone with older iPhones (pre-iPhone 15), grab USB-C to Lightning cables. For everyone else, you can’t go wrong buying USB-C cables.

Christmas 2024 Recommendations

1. Anker MagGo Power Bank ($25) A wireless charger, portable battery, and phone stand in one.

2. Anker USB-C to USB-C Cable (2 for $6.39): Durable and reliable.

3. Anker 45W USB-C Charger Block ($16): Powerful enough to charge most devices efficiently.

Yes, all my recommendations are from the same brand. What can I say? I love Anker. Their products are consistently high quality, and their Black Friday deals are fantastic.

For the record, I don’t use referral links or have any financial incentive. I genuinely just like their stuff.

I’ll send out an additional post this Friday with the best deals I find.

This year, though, I’ve had some extra help—a self-driving lawn mower! It’s been in development for over five years, including a four-year training period, and is now finally operational. While it’s still at Level 2 autonomy, requiring close supervision, I’m hopeful it’ll reach full independence one day. (Though I wonder which will happen first—this or my car becoming fully self-driving?)

Jokes aside, my son has gotten pretty good with the zero-turn mower. When we’re cutting grass, he struggles to stay precisely on the line between the cut and uncut grass, but he’s improving. With leaves, straight lines aren’t an issue.

I try to involve him as early as possible when he’s interested because that may not always be the case. We still have another week or two of leaves to pick up, but I’m excited to see how well he can cut the grass next year! (assuming he’s still interested!)

While I was there, I learned about the concept of an “ideal customer.” I’d assumed it meant someone who loves your product. Wrong! An ideal customer is someone who pays for your product but rarely uses it. (To be clear: this wasn’t official curriculum but something a Stanford student explained to me.)

Since then, I’ve done my best to avoid becoming that ideal customer.

There are few ways to lose money that are worse than having a subscription you’re no longer using.1 The Wall Street Journal published an article Monday about a new class of users that are taking full advantage of our new monthly subscription system by subscribing for a few months at a time and then pausing their subscription until some later date.

Gone are the days of multi-year contracts and $100 cable bills. With everything on a monthly subscription you can toggle online, it’s time to cut that monthly drain. Here’s how I make sure I get real value for every dollar I spend on subscriptions.

1. Turn off Auto-Renew Immediately

As soon as I subscribe to something, I turn off auto-renew. For instance, my brother visited this weekend, and we wanted to play Call of Duty online. I didn’t have a PlayStation Online subscription, so I bought a one-month pass and immediately turned off auto-renew in settings.

2. Opt for Annual Plans When Possible

For services we use consistently—like Paramount+ and Peacock in our house—I look for annual plan deals, buy them, and turn off auto-renew. Currently, we have a full year of Peacock with ads for $20, and we got Paramount+ through Verizon along with a year of Netflix for free. By default, auto-renew was enabled, but I made sure to disable it.

3. Stop Signing Multi-Year Agreements

For years, the only way to get reasonable rates on cable or cell service was through a two-year contract. But today, many providers offer month-to-month options. Next time your contract ends, consider switching if there’s no significant service difference—especially if it saves you from being locked in.

These strategies keep my subscriptions under control, so I know I’m getting value for every dollar leaving my account.