Although it might seem simple to keep kids happy and entertained, the process is a lot more difficult than most people realize. I started thinking more seriously about going through and entertaining the kids in my house, and it occurred to me that we could do better. I began carefully considering all of the different aspects of entertainment, and I was really surprised with how many options were out there. I wanted to start a new website that looked at entertainment from a parenting perspective. Check out these posts to find out how you can keep your kids happy without compromising their intelligence.
Rhonda Gardner
Do you want to make your home automated with smart devices, but are not sure where to start? You want home automation to have a purpose and to address things that you do on a daily basis to make it worthwhile. Here are some creative ways to automate your home beyond simply turning on the lights with your voice.
Outdoor Lights
There are a lot of timers that can be placed on outdoor lights so that they are not on all the time. Consider using smart light bulbs that can be set to turn on and off on a schedule. Have a front yard porch light turn on at dusk and turn off right as you go to bed in the evening. For outdoor lights in the back of your home, you are likely only back there for a few minutes in the evenings most nights. Have those lights turn off automatically after a set amount of time so that you are not wasting electricity lighting your backyard when nobody is back there.
Garage Door
There is a lot of functionality that you can add to your garage door by using home automation. One nice thing you can do is set up the ability to automatically close the garage door if it has been left open for too long. This will prevent the door from being left open all night by accident, simply by having it close if it is open past a certain time.
Locks
Your exterior doors can benefit from having smart locks installed. This can give you the option for keyless entry by holding your smartphone near the door, or even give someone temporary access to your home without providing a key that can be copied. Forget if you locked the door on the way to work? You can lock the doors remotely using your smartphone, or set up a geofence around your home that locks the doors when all smartphones are outside of the geofence.
Water Leak Detection
It's possible to get notified when you have a water leak in your home, so that you can act as soon as possible. Water leak detectors can be placed anywhere in your home, and will send a notification to your smartphone the moment that water is detected. Place them in your basement near your sump pump or water heater to make sure that these devices are working properly at all times.