VTech - Not Just for Kids’ Electronics

Wearing the lightweight safety pendant from the VTech CareLine phone system

When my mother moved into senior housing recently, we had to buy her a new corded phone, a new cordless phone and a safety pendant in case she had an accident.

What I didn’t know was that we could have saved money and a lot of headache if we’d just gotten the new VTech CareLine SN6197. The 3 in 1 phone system has everything we needed, along with easy to follow instructions and even better features than the phones we got. I tested the phone out - after we’d already bought the separate components - and was impressed with the quality and ease of use.

The oversize buttons on the corded phone are perfect for someone whose vision isn’t what it used to be; my mother often calls one of her four kids and insists she dialed another.

See Who You Are Calling

Even more useful are the photo speed dial buttons. There are four, perfect for my three siblings and me to be our mother’s photo contacts. Though here, the instructions are way too complex for an older adult to follow.

And who wrote these instructions: “we recommend you store two contacts that you may need to call them more often or immediately to photo speed keys 1 and 2.” If my mother had read this she should have burst into tears.

But my 15 year old didn’t even need the instructions - she just intuitively knew how to add photos.

While it seems like cell phones and caller ID would eliminate any question about who’s calling, my mom still gets confused. I get it - I have 3 daughters who sound alike, but still - their names pop up if they call her. With the VTech system, a voice actually announces who is calling.

And the audio asset turns up the volume during a phone call so your parents can actually hear what you are saying.

Safety Pendant

The lightweight safety pendant can be clipped on to a pocket or belt, or worn around the next. If your mom has an accident, she can call just by pressing button 1 or 2 (which correspond to the 1 and 2 on speed dial). There is also voice activated calling from the pendant. And there is no extra monthly fee.

Disclosure: I was compensated by VTech for this post; opinions expressed are my own.

Decluttering: a pack-rat’s tips

An earthquake recently jolted New York City. While damage was minimal, my oldest daughter posted a photo on Facebook of her youngest sister’s playroom, “apparently the only part of our house affected by the earthquake.”

I have raised a slob.

Now, I don’t profess to be all spic & span, but I do prefer a clutter-free zone. Yet I am at heart a pack rat. This is why I believe strongly in closets.

Our family has a lot of them.

When we built an addition to our house, we added a wall of extra deep closets, where the television, DVDs and board games live. We also have a ton of videotapes, which no one watches. I’m not even sure our VCR works. The kids watch movies on their computers.

In our battle to reclaim floor space, I have these 10 tips:

Bins. I love color-coded bins, so kids can remember that crayons go in the yellow, markers in the blue.

Baskets. I use baskets throughout the house, for hats, gloves, makeup.

Shelves. All those bins and baskets can’t be in the floor, because then there would be no place to walk, or play.

Clear boxes. These are best for high closet shelves, so you can see which has the sweaters, which the ski socks.

Rotation. Most kids simply have too many toys. If you put some out of reach – in the basement, under the bed, on the highest shelf, it limits kids’ options, plus it seems like they have new toys when you bring them back out.

Donation. When they clearly have outgrown something, I donate it. But don’t donate too soon. My youngest decided she was done with Barbie, but I knew she was too young to completely give them up. I put them in the basement playroom and, although she denies it, we know that she still plays with them.

Stoop/yard sale. In our Brooklyn neighborhood, families have frequent stoop sales, where they unload extra or unwanted toys. Be beware. Some kids use the opportunity to buy new toys with the money they make (we usually donate the money to whatever cause the kids choose).

Digital camera. Get rid of school projects, but preserve them by photographing them before you trash them (and don’t let kids see them in the garbage).

Less is more. I really like when beds are made, but blankets and covers make it more difficult for kids. We have sheets topped by comforters with print covers. All you have to do is pull the comforter up and the bed is made. And laundry is simpler. You don’t have to wash the comforter often; just wash the cover.

Build. If you run out of floor space, build a new closet.

High Line & Haute Cuisine

One of the joys of the High Line extension is The Lot, at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, in NYC. This former parking lot, at the new northern terminus of The High Line, is filled food trucks and an outdoor bar, The Lot on Tap.

For those of us with OCD issues, The Lot has well-maintained portable toilets, with running water and soup outside, so you can wash your hands. The water is operated by a foot pedal, so no touching grotty faucets.

You need clean hands to tackle some of the food, which on the day we visited included Taim Mobile. This all vegetarian truck has falafel sandwiches, with fresh and tasty falafel and spicy sauces to perk up your lunch (or dinner - The Lot operates 11am – 10, Sunday – Wednesday; till 11pm other days).

Taim also makes a zesty and refreshing ginger mint lemonade and date smoothies; the kids can drink this while parents have a craft beer on tap.

Only in New York

New Yorkers never cease to amaze me. Only in New York does a kid come home from the local public elementary school with your kid and blithely announce that ‘Daddy won the Pulitzer Prize this morning.’ Only in New York does a tunnel shut down to bring in circus elephants. Only in New York are vegan and macrobiotic diets by tots not given a second thought.

And only in New York is the Veggie Pride Parade an annual event.

Ok, maybe some of these things happen outside New York. But they occur here with great regularity.

The Veggie Pride Parade, Sunday May 16, starts at 11am in the West Village. It ends at Union Square Park, where free vegan food will be served.

Kids and adults are encouraged to dress up and enter the costume contest. Presumably, those in fur and leather will not be awarded prizes.