Search TNH:

The New Homemaker Newsletter
for July 27, 2007

Dear Readers,

Hey, hey! I spruced up the newsletter! What do you think?

The summer is in full swing, and so far, we're really enjoying it. I'm getting stronger every day, except when I'm not. :P or instance, we went to the zoo on Sunday. We were there all day, and I held up pretty well. Except for this week. I'm still recovering.

We are getting our first plums from my little Japanese plum tree! They're small and intensely "plummy"--puckeringly tart skins and sweet, incredibly juicy purple interiors. I've got so many plums between the tree and our produce service that tomorrow I'm going to make some freezer jam. I'll take notes. :)

In fact, I was just telling my mom that one of the cool things about running this site is, EVERYTHING I DO can be an article! Tomorrow I'm going to vacuum the refrigerator coils. Hello, fridge maintenance article! Also on deck are articles about simple syrups, garage sale tips, solar ovens and a roundup of my top ten homemaking books. Got any tips you want to pass on for any of those? Send me email! If use your tip in an article, I'll give you a 50% off coupon for anything in the Shop!

One last note: The reader survey is ending soon, and with it, your chance to win ebook packages from the Shop. Five winners will get their pick of anything they want, and ONE lucky winner will get ALL the ebooks!

From the Hacker Housewife: Do Internet Filtering Programs Work?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Sure, installing an internet filter--a program that tries to keep certain kinds of content away from children--sounds like a good idea to some people. After all, no one wants her kids stumbling across pornography, or worse.

The thing is, filters are far from perfect. Many filters will block out, say, a site about big-breasted women. But they'll also block out sites about breast cancer.

And more to the point, kids are persistent. Peacefire is one site that both kids and people whose employers block access to information like labor law sites use. It gives readers everything they need to know to bypass filters. It's not that hard, and even if you have Peacefire itself filtered out from a home computer, somewhere a determined kid can find an unblocked terminal and get the information he wants.

So what's a parent to do?

• Start by putting the family computer in a common area like the living room. No computers in bedrooms!
• Make a deal with your kids: You have the right to inspect their click history, and if you find they've altered it, their privileges are revoked.
• Password-protecting your computer--requiring that your kids get you to unlock the computer before they can use it--can also help, but only if you're really good at picking passwords. Because kids are really good at guessing your passwords, let's just say it right here.

But the real internet filter is you, and your relationship with your kids. If you do your job right, your kids will know the difference between right and wrong, and what your family considers to be acceptable. Talk with them frankly about sexual advances adults might make to them--yeah, I know, cringe-worthy, but it's a conversation you have to have, and remember that your kids are in far, far more danger in the "real" world than they are the "virtual" world. You have to give them the tools they need, because you can't be everywhere all the time.

For more on this, I highly recommend the book Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker. It confronts all the dangers kids face today, and tells you exactly how to keep your kids safe. Censorship is not how to do it.

---

This Week's Coupon: 20% off EVERYTHING IN THE STORE!

From now until the end of July, you can:

• Make Tasty, Nutritious Meals While You Work, Play--Or Sleep!
  
• Help Your Child Cope with ADHD
  
• Make THE PERFECT Gifts for Your Friends and Family
  
• Turn Your Craft into Cash
  
• Help Your Teenager Lose Weight
  

...and much, much more, for 20% off!

Use coupon code "julysale" to get 20% off all the great ebooks and software at the TNH Shop.

This coupon is ONLY good till 7/31/07, so hurry!

---

The Regular Roundup:

Latest Article

Beat Insomnia Now

leep can be an elusive thing. Experience a couple nights of tossing and turning in bed, and it's all too tempting to reach for a sleep aid. But before you do, consider that several recent studies conducted at major institutions all over the country show that, despite their ordinary nature, simple behavioral strategies--like going to bed at the same time every night and avoiding afternoon naps--really do work. What's more, over-the-counter sleep medications can leave you feeling sluggish the next day, and "there’s very little evidence that these sleep aids actually result in significant sleep," says Mark Mahowald, M.D., director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis.

What about prescription sleep drugs? For acute, short-term insomnia--such as that brought on by a stressful event, like a death in the family--experts say these medications can help. "In fact, by treating acute short-term insomnia [with prescription sleep aids] when it first occurs, we can actually prevent the development of long-term insomnia," says Dr. Mahowald. But for the occasional sleepless night, consider the following 10 tips. You may find they help you get to sleep just as well as popping a pill!

continued...

Recent Articles

Recent Entries from Lynn's Diary of a New Homemaker

Recent Member Blog Postings

You can start your own blog at TNH any time you'd like. Your blog even has its own RSS feed so that friends can "subscribe" to your blog and see what you're up to.

---

---

Active Forum Topics

Start or join a conversation any time!

Latest Recipes

More recipes in the Recipe Box--be sure to enter your favorites!

Latest Poll

Have you voted yet?

Latest Product Reviews

Remember, ANY purchase you make at Amazon when you click through a TNH Amazon link benefits TNH, even if you don't buy the item you click on!

Always on TNH