When to Update Your Last Will and Testament

Do you have a Last Will and Testament? Excellent! It is an essential part of your estate plan, and will make things clearer and easier for those you leave behind. “I’m not rich, I don’t have an estate, so I don’t need a will,” you might think. An “estate” in this situation is considered as, “a person’s belongings, physical and intangible assets, land and real estate, investments, collectibles, and furnishings.” You don’t need to be a bazillionaire to have an estate.

Your will does need updating from time to time. Estate lawyers recommend updating your will every three to five years, or any time you have a major life event. Read on for situations when you should update your will.

Wills

How “Doom Boxes” Can Help You Tame Clutter

by Laura Wheatman Hill
December 17, 2022
from Apartment Therapy

I recently started seeing videos in the ADHD corner of TikTok about “doom boxes,” an ominous name for something I thought everyone did, regardless of their neurotypical or neurodivergent status. Turns out, maybe not.

“Doom” is an acronym for “didn’t organize, only moved,” and a “doom box” is a space where you store these random unorganized items, just for the sake of putting them away. I have a doom closet, and I know people with doom rooms too. While a doom box may seem like an organizational no-no, you can make this habit work for you.

ADHD, decluttering, home organizing

Common Thanksgiving Challenges for Kids With ADHD

by Lexi Walters Wright
from Understood.org

As enjoyable as Thanksgiving is for some families, it can often be a difficult time for kids with ADHD to manage. That’s especially true if the holiday involves gatherings and long sit-down meals. Here are some typical trouble spots and what you can do to help.

Interrupted routines

The problem: If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving, your child may be sleeping in a strange place and following an unfamiliar schedule. Even if you’re hosting, your family’s routines may be disrupted. That’s rough for kids with ADHD.

ADHD, Thanksgiving

10 Shortcuts to Keep Kids Organized This School Year

With only a few weeks left before school starts, it’s time to start preparing for the new school year. Starting the year off with an organizational plan will definitely get your whole family off to a great start. This means less stress, calmer mornings, efficient evenings, and less tardiness. Get the whole family on the same page so your school day routines will be even better. We’ve got some A+ shortcuts to getting organized!

1. Prep for the next day the night before

This eliminates a lot of the “where is…” and “what should I…” questions that can make a morning frantic. Clothes and accessories should be laid out and ready to wear. Backpacks should have everything needed for the next day, including homework that is due and forms that have been filled out. Devices should be charging overnight, ready to unplug and put in their backpack. Prep their lunch as well.

There are so many awesome types of dads out there, and getting him a Father’s Day gift he’ll love can be a challenge. Whether that special dad in your life is into gadgets, golf, travel, fashion, geekdom, camping, or wine, there is something out there that will light up his face and get him to tell a classic dad joke. We’ve got a list of things we think are pretty cool—you might get him one of these, or just be inspired to shop around some more.

Father's Day

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for (Almost) Every Mom

Not gonna lie…I love putting together our gift guides for special occasions and holidays. It gives me great ideas for gift-giving while hoping to inspire our readers with theirs! Here is this year’s list of gift ideas for almost every mom out there. I hope you find something for that special mom in your life.

mother's day

How to Keep Kids Safe on YouTube in 2021

from SafetyDetectives.com
June 2, 2021

Keeping kids away from inappropriate YouTube content can feel overwhelming. There are several billion YouTube videos (500+ hours of video are uploaded every minute), and 2 billion users log into YouTube every month — so how do we filter out all of the violent, sexual, manipulative, hateful, and otherwise unsuitable content that our kids find on YouTube (frequently on accident)?

YouTube has a couple of solutions — including “Restricted Mode” on conventional YouTube and also the curated YouTube Kids app, both of which are meant to filter out adult content. But dozens of reports have been published showing the staggering amount of vulgar, violent, and disturbing content that YouTube’s automated filters fail to catch.

What’s even more worrying is that a lot of these videos are actually targeted at young children, using popular characters, misleading titles, and search-engine-optimized language to maximize views from young children who don’t know any better.

That’s why relying on YouTube’s filters isn’t good enough. But there are some pretty simple techniques that you can use to ensure your kids don’t stumble across the millions of hours of inappropriate content on YouTube in 2021.

Read the rest on SafetyDetectives.com

ADHD, Kids

An Invitation to Weary Moms

Moms, we see you. We see you carrying the load of house manager, businesswoman, cook, cleaner, parent, motivator, and teacher. We see and feel the fatigue and toll this last 13 months of COVID has taken. We also feel the ray of hope that the vaccine has created. (Woohoo, the Simplify Experts team is now fully vaccinated!)

We want to honor Moms by gifting two hours of professional organizing for Mom’s Day. We have never offered anything like this before…and it won’t last long—so don’t delay!

If you have a mom or mom-figure in your life, celebrate her on this day (and really, any day) with something unique and different. Flowers and chocolates are always a hit, but this year is a good one to take it up a notch. Moms have been quarantining, social-distancing, working from home, schooling from home, cooking umpteen meals, and basically…momming more than usual. Show her how special she is and gift her with something that gives her something fun to try out, elevates her chillaxation time, and won’t add clutter.

1. For the Mom who can’t get a good night’s sleep

Weighted blankets are a thing now—and for good reason. That extra heft is therapeutic and calming, and has been shown to help people sleep through the night by relieving both stress and anxiety. Cnet rates the Layla Blanket highly, and we like the price tag and 120-night money-back guarantee.

2. For the Mom who’s really into puzzles and mysteries

These murder mystery jigsaw puzzles are the bomb! “Each puzzle includes a short mystery, and all a puzzler has to do is READ the story, ASSEMBLE the puzzle, and then SOLVE the mystery. Each 1,000 piece puzzle creates a 23” x 29” clue-filled image—that does not match the image on the box!” We’re totally sold.

mother's day

A Parent’s Guide to Getting Your ADHD Student to Start School On Time

The key to starting school on time starts the night before. Since kids with ADHD may have sleep issues, a solid sleep routine can help your child be successful with their morning routine.

Begin the sleep ritual early. Turn off any electronic devices well ahead of bedtime, if possible. We know this is tough when kids’ laptops and netbooks are their a major point of connection to their learning environment. It’s also challenging if your student is up late studying, but aim for an early bedtime as much as you can. Try a non-electronic ritual—like reading together or setting out the next day’s outfit—to help ease your child’s transition towards bedtime. Taking a hot shower or bath before bed can help the body get into sleep mode. Some kids with ADHD like to settle down with a book on tape or on Audible, but if that is too stimulating a white noise machine can help your child tune out noise and settle into sleep easier. If possible, try to avoid evening sports or lessons as these may overstimulate your child, making it more difficult for them to fall asleep. Try different strategies until you come up with a sleep routine that works well for your child.

ADHD, students

Parenting