Jessica's Friday Five: Your phone can do WHAT with slides?!

Hi Reader,

I'm writing to you from Boise (my first time in Idaho), attending a lovely conference. Still, it's a heavy week here in the US, a land of immigrants, where we seem to have lost our way in having loving and open conversations about how to build a society that works for all of us. I continue to appreciate Tangle News as a helpful source of news and a thoughtful platform for diverse perspectives, allowing me to develop my own informed views. Tomorrow, millions of Americans will join peaceful protests to stand up for a democracy with no kings. Take care of your people.

Let's get to your Friday Five, ok?

1. Control slides from your phone: My friend Autumn shared this, and I had no idea it existed! You can use your phone as a slide clicker with this free browser extension (it's for using Google Slides with a Chrome browser). So handy!
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2. Free Lifetime National Parks Access: Did you know that if you or someone you know has a permanent disability (including conditions like diabetes, PTSD, and ADHD), you can get free lifetime access to national parks in the US? Some states also do this for their state parks. More here.
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3. What to do with little toys/prizes: if you have kids in your life, you are probably going to find yourself in possession of tiny toys. Whether they come in birthday party favor bags, are picked out of a treasure box at school, or are given as a prize after a dentist visit, somehow these little doodads will show up in your life. What can you do with them? Here are 5 ideas: my friend Sage saves them for Easter egg filling. I have a basket near our front door to collect them and take one on my walks to put in the Little Free Library we steward. You can collect them to give to a teacher for a classroom prize box. They can be saved to add to a candy bowl at Halloween (every time I do this, the non-candy items go first!). They could be stored in your luggage and then brought out as surprise toys on a road trip or flight.
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4. Birthday Party Favors: Speaking of the above, do you want to avoid giving tiny little toys at a kids’ birthday party you’re planning, but want some party favors? Consider: a book for each kid (I got a stack of this book one year for my son’s 2nd or 3rd birthday, and this one for another year), a fun $5 gift card for each kid to get something edible like shaved ice, or something consumable like a wrapped cookie or brownie to take home. Or something out of the ordinary but delightful: no one has ever given my kid a mini watermelon as a party favor, but if they did? Everyone would be delighted about that. 🍉
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5. Did you know you can get fewer (or more) emails from me? Scroll down to the "Manage Your Profile" link below, and you can personalize the types of emails you want from me. We've got Friday Five, Tuesday Tips, a popular monthly newsletter just for managers at work, emails just for small business owners like me, emails just for parents, etc. You decide!

Bonus Sponsor Resource: My friend Sara Kate recently emailed me to say, "I just attended an incoming Kindergarten parents' meeting this AM, and they were talking about labeling ALL the things, and I was like, 'I think Jess had a rec for that...' So I can confirm your code is still working, haha." She helped me realize it's been so long since I've shared Name Bubbles! I label something in my house at least once a week (is that overkill? 😂), and I've tried all the personalized label brands. Name Bubbles is the clear best in this category. I have them for each kid, but the most frequently used ones are the ones that simply say "The Stewart Family". So helpful - we put them on dishes we take to potlucks, on jackets, on water bottles, and on other small items that leave the house, like handheld fans, lunchboxes, and computer chargers. My code is JESSICA21 for 21% off! This resource is from one of our Friday Five sponsors - thank you to them for keeping this newsletter free for readers!

Last Friday's Most-Clicked Link: The fun question cards that are perfect for living in your car console for road trips, restaurant food waits, etc.

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