Mom's Gadgets

“I’m saving money for a MVP Player” said my 5 year old. That’s MP3 player for your knowledge. A few months earlier, I gave her sister one of mine that I no longer used. The poor girl had to wait till her sister falls asleep so she can sneak in a few minutes of listening time.

Since then, she’s been reminding us about it and saving for one. So while shopping in RiteAid two weeks ago, we found the SanDisk Sansa Shaker (512 MB) for only $14.99. It’s on its way out being an older model so I said why not?

This thing turned out nicely because it has a built in speaker. Tiny one yes and it’s not as loud as your boombox (thank goodness!) but loud enough. She’s been super thrilled with it. As for mommy. I really like the mini speaker because it allows her to share her music and keeps her from falling asleep in a tangle of earphone wires (scary!)

By the way, if you want to find free downloadable MP3’s you can fill up your little ones’ MP3 players with. Free Kids Music is where I always go to. It has kept my eldest entertained for hours. The music is totally kid friendly and some are very silly too. Great music for families.

I was late getting in on the Ipod craze. I couldn’t bring myself to part with the money necessary to buy it.  Finally, I did and I was glad that I did.  Now, I can never seem to find it when I want it.  Why, because someone keeps stealing it.  Not literally, its just my husband or my son borrowing it as they say, but it sure is getting used by others more than me!

Ipods are a great gadget.  Holding tons of music, podcast and other audios, videos even on some models and mine hold pictures too.  All of this in a tiny hand held, super lightweight gadget.  The neat accessories such as sports bands you can strap on your arm make it easy to take this little gadget with you virtually anywhere.  Plus you can also get the home stereo type accessories and utilize this great gadget as your primary music source.

One of the best things about an Ipod to me is the ability to download songs one by one from Itunes.com that I want to hear not having to purchase a whole CD like in the old days just to get the one song I was craving hearing.  That’s a money saver in itself, and has made this purchase worth it in my book.
photo credit: pmarkham

When I was a kid there was a neat home gadget called a dust buster.  I’m not sure if they still have those on the market or not, but similar products even those with additional features are available today.  If you’re a busy wife and mom this type gadget could be a great tool to have around the house to beat the dust and suck up the crumbs that are inevitably on your floors if you have small children.

These gadgets are usually fairly light, battery powered, with the ability to charge them, then grab and go.  The fact that they are lightweight allows you to take them virtually anywhere.  You may even want to use them in your car.

They are also great for tight spaces and for cleaning up messes quickly without having to drag out your bigger vacuum cleaner.  For many people this would save many minutes in their day.  You may want to check your local department stores for such a gadget today.