Although Olivia is 4½ years old, she’s never really used the computer. So a few weeks ago, I decided it was time she learned. I made her an account on the computer and set it up with a big mouse pointer, shortcuts to age appropriate kid sites like PBS Kids, and installed Windows Live Family Safety so she’d be safe from bad websites. I sat her down, showed her how to use the mouse, and being a kid it took her less than two minutes to figure it all out.

Now she begs to use the computer. When she does get to use it, if we don’t pay attention, she’ll use it for hours! Obviously the best cure for that is good parenting. Meaning we’d pay attention to how long she’s been on and make her log out after a reasonable amount of time. Yeah exactly, that’s why I figured there must be a simple technological solution to the problem.

Fortunately, if you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, it’s extremely easy to force the computer to log out after a specified amount of time. Continue reading →