Unmasking the truth: revealing invisible print on appliance buttons

Tired of invisible print on buttons? Silver Sharpie to the rescue!

As you all know, Sharpies kind of rock our world. We've used them on medicine bottles and our kids. I fixed scratches on our coffee table with them. We've even handed them out as business cards at conventions.

I'm back to teaching after over a decade away, so there's not much time to spare. Scout and I were halfway through this hack before I thought to grab a camera.

As I'm sure I'll soon be telling my students, better late than never.

This hack video represents Scout's first blog appearance as a camerawoman. Not bad for a 6-year-old.

We hope everyone's back to school is going well!

***Baby Toolkit is a production of the geeky, over-committed Jones family in the middle Midwest. We're Amazon affiliates, so if you buy through our Amazon links, we'll get a small percentage that we'll promptly squander on board games or domain name fees or Sharpies or paperclips. We are in no way affiliated with Sharpie or their makers, though we would have a long history of Sharpie love. We also podcast about board game groups and board games at GreatBigTable.com. Thanks for reading the small print. This commendable behavior would surely get you bonus points in my class; how about a gold star?

Keeping on Track: Log Medicine Doses on the Bottle

I taped this label above the pharmacy label.

In the past year, our household has taken more medicine than ever. It seems at least one of our kids has needed a course of medication at least once a month for the past calendar year.

This is a lot for my tired mind to manage, so I've stolen and consolidated a number of smart tips from Parent Hacks. Now, I reveal to you our household's approach to medications.

I put a blank mailing label, post-it, or piece of paper on the actual medication. I don't ever cover the Rx label with anything I can't easily remove. I write the dosing instructions in easily read letters on either the bottle or the top of the paper (Sharpies don't work on all bottles- especially cold ones).

On the bottle or paper I keep a log (day, date, and time) of doses given.

I used to keep a separate log on the front of the fridge, but I always forgot to update it when I gave the dose. Now, I have the log in-hand as soon as I grab the bottle.

The on-board log makes it a lot easier for others to track, avoids double-dosing, and travels with the medicine automatically. It also keeps things clearer when more than one kid needs medicine (I then write their name on the sheet too).

How do you organize your household's medicines?

***Baby Toolkit is a stream-of-consciousness parenting-related log written by a geek couple from the almost-rural suburbs on a big, blue spinning planet about 93 million miles from the Sun. We are affiliated with the Sun (as users) and with Amazon.com (as affiliates). We are also podcasting about board games at GreatBigTable.com.