TheMommyBlog

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Family

Asha Dornfest, my personal parenting heroine and hacker, is spearheading the launch of The Slideshare Parent Toolbox. I love this topic, because I’m a templating fool, and whip one up whenever I need to organize info in a way that will get attention, especially when it comes to the kids. I have tools all over the fridge - from emergency contacts, playdate protocols and numbers, house rules, you name it. That’s when you get when you have a spreadsheet nerd/graphic designer/Type A mom.

I’m excited to share some of those tools with y’all, and can’t wait to see what the others post. Some of my very favorite people are participating:

Channel Bloggers
CoolMomPicks: Kristen C and Liz G
Amalah: Amy S
Craftzine: Katie D
Dadcentric: Jasan A
DadGoneMad: Danny Evans (Btw, reading his book, Rage Against the Meshugenah, loving it, loving him!)
Finslippy: Alice Bradley
MamaPop: Catherine Connors
MightyGirl: Maggie Mason
TheMommyBlog: Mindy Roberts
MommyTrackd: Amy Keroes
ThePioneerWoman: Ree Drummond
SavvySource: Stacey Boyd
Sweetney: Tracey Gaughran-Perez
Parenthacks: Asha Dornfest
Wisebread: Lynn Truong

Welcome to the Slideshare Parent Toolbox!
When it comes to parenting, we all deserve a good crib sheet. And I’m not referring to the duckie-print flannel lying between your baby and the mattress—I’m talking about shortcuts. Cliff’s Notes. The filled-in puzzle at the back of the magazine. I’m talking about the tips and ideas older, wiser (or just plain luckier) parents have already stumbled upon—tips we can put to use to simplify our parenting lives today.

I’m a big fan of collective parenting wisdom—it’s at the heart of my site Parent Hacks. The same spirit is behind the new Slideshare Parent Toolbox, a collaboration between Slideshare, Federated Media, and sponsored by Microsoft Office. In the weeks to come, some of the Web’s most talented parenting bloggers will kick off the conversation about how technology can help simplify and organize family life. We’ll include lots of documents you can download and customize for your family.

Here’s a peek at what’s ahead:

• A homework organizer
• A food allergy log
• A “house rules” slideshow
• A holiday gift tracker
• A carpool chart

And that’s just the beginning! You have a million more great ideas, and we want to hear them! Leave your comments and ideas, and upload your own documents for all to share.

We’ve even got a fun giveaway in the works—stay tuned to find out more.

So, welcome. We hope you’ll stay a while. There’s so much to talk about.

Parent Toolbox