The 5min Blog

In today’s economy, saving is something that most people wish they had been doing since they were a little kid. Well the smart moms at CafeMom show you how to teach your kids the value of money at an early age, as it is never too early to start the saving process.

Having a clear piggy bank is an excellent idea, I remember I had a piggy bank that I couldn’t see into and I was always super eager to get in and count my pennies, to see my progress. But after counting the pennies the temptation of the money being there in smart little piles was too much for my sweet tooth to resist. And  usually off to the shop I would scarper.

Also giving children something to look forward to when saving their pennies is great, because they will be more willing to help out instead of dragging their feet about the chores they need to do.

So next time your little one is eying a candy in a shop or staring longingly at a toy in the local toy shop,  just let them know how many chores it will take to earn it.

Tags: CafeMom, how to save money, kids chores, parenting, parenting advice, parenting tips, saving money, target, tech kids value of money

Having a hundred funny stories about things your kids said is an integral part of being a parent. So much of the magic of raising a little person is that we can see the world through their fresh eyes. Simple things we take for granted or don’t even notice, like a dry leaf, stray cat or little rain puddle, our children might see as magnificent. The other side of this coin is that young children often don’t have a sense of what’s socially acceptable to say and what’s not. Almost every parent went through that painfully awkward moment when your kid says out loud the most inappropriate thing imaginable.

In this video from CafeMom, brought to you by Target, Vicky, a mother of 4, shares her story about such an embarrassing incident:

Vicky’s story is not unusual and yet it deals with a difficult parenting dilema: how do you raise children to have good manners and explain to them about proper behavior?
Some parents get upset over such incidents and react in a disproportionate way. As Vicky described, it’s important to calmly explain to your children how to express similar thoughts in the future. However, as she points out, the most important part of any education is your example as parents. If you try to be polite and mind your manners, chances are that eventually your children will grow up to be the same. Everything they say until then will one day make for a good story.

Tags: Cafe Mom, CafeMom, How to Teach Kids Good Manners, Manners for Kids, Teach Good Manners to Children, Teach Kids Good Manners

After many weeks of hard work, we’re thrilled to invite you to check out the latest version of 5min’s Smart Player, armed with new features and capabilities to enhance viewing experience and engagement. Our product team has taken your feedback and requests to heart and worked to make our Smart Player the best in the online video space. The most recent additions that have emerged from our product center include new tools and features to make your online video viewing experience a complete one, as well as provide a more comprehensive solution to our distribution partners using the Smart Player throughout their various web properties.

So, what’s new in the latest version of the Smart Player?

New Related Videos Bar: In this version we’ve introduced a new related videos bar, which displays and allows viewers to access 15 contextually related videos from the 5min library. So, for instance, now you can easily browse some more exotic variations on the martini after learning how to whip up the famous one-minute original.

New In-Player Search Toolbar: Our new in-player search allows users to access all videos from the 5min library at any time by simply typing in keywords in the designated search box, giving site publishers the ability to include a dynamic video search in every webpage.

Enhanced Post-Roll: In our new streamlined design, when a video is finished and completes playing, viewers have the option to either replay the video, watch a related video from the related videos bar, or search for any video in the 5min library.

New Full-screen Mode Design: There is a new, sleek full-screen design which encompasses all of the features listed above, allowing a more enhanced viewing experience.

To those of you using the Smart Player to seed videos on your websites, all these new features have already been updated on the player on your site as well as 5min.com, and require absolutely no action on your end. We hope you enjoy these improvements as well as additional enhancements we plan to roll out in coming months, and join us in spreading video everywhere.

Feedback? Questions? Comments? Your opinion matters – drop us a line and let us know!

Tags: 5min, 5min Media, 5min's Smart Player, 5min.com, enhanced post-roll, Online Media, online video, related videos, related videos bar, search capability, search toolbar, Smart Player, SmartPlayer, video player, video solutions

Anyone that has planned a wedding knows how stressful this can be. Where to do it, who to invite, what to wear, what food to serve. And the “details”: seating arrangements when not everyone gets along, deciding on the wedding favors, choosing the wedding cake, writing the thank you notes. The truth is, getting married is a full time job, and you might need an assistant if you want to get perfect results.

Luckily,  MagRack has a series of videos that will guide us brides to-be and will prevent us from going crazy before the big day. One of my main concerns is etiquette,  to master the do’s and don’ts of weddings:

Good news? As a vegetarian, I can go with a cruelty-free menu without feeling that it’s not appropriate to offer an option for those who don’t follow my lifestyle. After all, it’s my wedding. Will people be happy? Probably not, but animals will be, so that’s 2 against 1. Bad news? It’s not appropriate to include a note indicating the dress code in the invitation. You just need to assume that your guests will get the hint. (Note: yes, it’s a black tie reception!) Another good surprise is that I have up to three months to write the thank you notes. Bad news? According to wedding etiquette, the bride should write all the thank you notes. So, I better start practicing my hand-writing.

Tags: dress code for a wedding, etiquette, MagRack, thank you notes, wedding, wedding advice, wedding etiquette, wedding planning, wedding reception, wedding tips

To all you string bending, pick grinding, axe wielders out there! Winter chills froze your wrists? Got your fingers all caught up in a bunch?

I bet Y’all know LAMB OF GOD’s guitarist Mark Morton, right?!

No need for me to ramble on about how awesome they are, and what amazing musicians compile one of the hardest of hard bands to have ever played, because you already know all that…

So, how about warming up to this lil’ video:

The video you all just saw is the first of a series of guitar lessons by Mark himself, entitled Dominion. In part one, Mark  shows a warm-up riff that works on alternate picking, and by “flipping” in the end, makes you hit the 1 beat with an up-stroke every second time around. This contributes to your upstroke power and precision, your down-stroke to up-stroke balance and gives you an overall right hand workout, without neglecting your left hand…

Y’all warmed up now and ready to ROCKn’ROLL?!

This video is only the first of Mark’s guitar lessons series for Guitar World, and trust me, this was only the warm up…

Dare Ye enter the “Dominion”?

Tags: alternate picking, guitar right hand workout, lamb of god, lamb of god lesson, mark morton, mark morton dominion, mark morton lesson

Educating children about personal finance and managing money is not an easy task. First of all, it has been proved scientifically that kids tend to behave like absolute children when it comes to, well… everything. But building and reinforcing good money habits in our children is a must, these days more than ever. CafeMom studio on 5min discusses this issue and brings some interesting points to the table:

The benefits of teaching kids the value of money are many. In the long term,  we see how some young people, after they move out from their parents place find it difficult to manage their personal finances and to keep up with the bills. This perhaps could have been avoided if they were more financially educated. In the short term, children develop strong saving habits, learning how to make purchases and sometimes maybe, just maybe, understanding that they can’t get anything they want anytime they want it (which can be a big energy and time saver for  parents who have to deal with numerous tantrums ).

Parents want to give their child the world, but I believe that the gift of knowledge last longer than toys.

Tags: CafeMom, parenting tips, Teach Children to Budget Allowances, Teach Children to Save Money, Teach Children Value of Money, Teach Kids About Money, Teaching Children Money Habits, teaching kids the value of money

Living in a country where nearly 10 months of the year are dry, saving water is a great must. Also, at least 36 states in the US are anticipating local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013 so this is a problem we should all be concerned with. It is no longer a problem of the western world; it’s now a problem on a mass scale. Especially since between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. population nearly doubled, and in that same period, public demand for water more than tripled. So anything we can do to help ease this situation should be done. DoyourPart is on the case and has some great tips to help you with the measures needed for water conservation:

Water isn’t the only problem we are faced with; fast filling vast landfills is also something we have to address soon. Around 66 – 84% of all household waste can be recycled, but the world as a whole isn’t anywhere near reaching this amount. If we keep using products such as Styrofoam our recycle percentage won’t get any better. Styrofoam is a non recyclable product and since each year America throws away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups, which is enough to circle the earth 436 times it won’t get better until we say no to the manufacturers producing this and demand them to make more environmentally friendly products.

So to do your part, start small, avoid buying products made of polystyrene or other non-sustainable products, and before throwing away your rubbish think twice, and ask yourself “Can this be recycled?“

Tags: care for the environment, conserving water, DoYourPart, eco friendly packaging, eco friendly products, eco living, green living, how to recycle, recycling, recycling info, recycling tips, reduce carbon footprint, save water, sustainable living, water conservation, water shortage problems

Introducing the concept of money to your children can be quite problematic. Although it’s good for them to understand the value of work and should see money as a reward for their effort, you don’t want them to think that everything they do should will have a monetary compensation.

CafeMom’s member Cynthia reflects on this issue and finds a balance between allowance and chores:

Children are very smart, so you need to be very careful when setting the line on this. I’ve seen how my 4 year-old niece trades gifts for information, so parents should make their kids understand that not everything they do equals cash, and that being a happy helper is a   duty as members of the family.

While some people feel that giving an allowance has a negative impact on children and that it increases materialism, if you link it to the house chores it becomes a way of encouraging them to be responsible, and to realize that work can be a rewarding experience.

Tags: allowance and chores, Cafe Mom, parenting, parenting advice, parenting tips, target, teaching kids the value of money

I’ve always been into cooking, but since I met my husband to-be, I realized that not everything needs to be gourmet and fancy to be yummy, and that sometimes you need to master the art of snacks. That’s right – especially if your man is into sports. With the upcoming Super Bowl, many of you are probably wondering how to prepare delicious snacks, in no time and little money. That’s where Hungry Nation’s Working Class Foodies get into the picture with a great snack idea:

That’s right, Chinese dumplings are a great solution for a fast and yummy Super Bowl snack ( and yes, we’re in the middle of the NBA season, so snack ideas are highly needed!). And don’t worry about the filling – if you, like George Clooney or me, think that pigs are friends and not food, you can choose about anything you like for your dumplings, from tofu to shiitake mushrooms and veggies.

Also, you can eat them fried, steamed or boiled, which makes them a versatile dish that will not bore your guests (or your guy) – thanks WC Foodies!

Tags: Chinese Dumplings, Football season, George Clooney, how to make Chinese dumplings, hungry nation, NBA season, snack ideas, Super Bowl, Super Bowl party ideas, Super Bowl snack ideas, Toronto Raptors, vegetarian Chinese dumplings, WC Foodies, Working Class Foodies

Some people have the idea that discipline equals repression and anger, and that the more strict you are, the more your kids will behave like the von Trapp children before Maria.  But the truth, is, education is the best gift that you can give to your child. In a world where some people believe that being pushy is a quality and that the easier the money comes, the faster you should spend it, parents need to think carefully what to teach their children about the real world.

CafeMom is a great place to hear stories on how parents deal with reality and the role of their kids in society. Mom Sara, for instance,  explains how she teaches her children about the value of work:

Sara’s reflections are a perfect balance of what children should be taught when it comes to working and being a productive member of society. She encourages her children to be responsible and sensitive, but also to learn about themselves and pursue careers that they like and where they find satisfaction. Also, she highlights the fact that we should always think about the ones that are in need, and offer them a helping hand, maybe the most important lesson of all.

Tags: Cafe Mom, Haiti earthquake, Lucky07, parenting, parenting advice, parenting tips, reward of work, target, The Sound of Music, the value of work