LPT: If your kids are fighting over a toy, let them resolve it themselves by setting up a timer for turns. This teaches them valuable skills like negotiation and patience without you constantly mediating disputes. Use a fun kitchen timer and make it a game—first to 5 minutes gets the toy next!

If you ever notice a fishy or urine-like smell near your electrical panel, outlets, or switches, don’t ignore it! This odor is often caused by overheating electrical components, melting plastic, or faulty wiring—all serious fire hazards. Electrical fires can start silently, so if you catch this smell, turn off power to the affected area (if safe) and call a licensed electrician immediately.

Many iPhone apps store their data in iCloud and are also included in the full iPhone backup, meaning they take up double the space.

A great example is WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp has its own built-in iCloud backup for chats and media.
• Apple’s iPhone backup also includes WhatsApp data.

This means your WhatsApp chats and media are stored twice, unnecessarily consuming iCloud storage. You can disable one of these backups (either the in-app backup or the one in your iCloud backup settings) to free up a significant amount of space.

Something I have discovered about sleeves that I find useful is when you roll up sleeves to prevent them from falling you just twist the sleeves. this creates a small amount of compression holding them up better

For products you are using everyday like : deodorants. shampoos , conditioner etc they will add up to make an combined smell that you might not have intended to create. Remember the smell is a lot stronger for other people who aren't close to you. On the other end regularly changing your hygine products can help to give off the apperence that you "smell good" to people already close to you.

While may people frequently get tripped up by fake PNGs, there's a relatively easy fix. Instead, if clicking the chequered background ones, click the ones with a white one. If it becomes chequered after clicking it, it's genuine. If it is chequered from the start, it is usually a non-PNG version of the image, and you need to go to the actual site and download it.

This simple question can catch them off guard and shift the dynamic of the interaction. Instead of escalating tension, it redirects their focus and can make them reconsider their behavior. More often than not, people lash out due to stress, frustration, or personal issues, and this approach can subtly remind them to check themselves.

Stay composed, be confident, and don’t let someone else’s bad mood ruin your day.

LPT Here's one of my best pro life tips: Can anyone help improve this?

When anyone gives you a passive-agressive comment or rude comment, say this, or similar…

What did you say?

What was that? I need you to repeat that.

I'm going to need you to repeat that.

I don't understand. Can you repeat that?

Then,

What did you mean by that?

Why would you say that? Were you deliberately trying to be cruel/mean/derogatory?

Feel free to add your own. Rinse, and repeat as necessary. Being asked to constantly repeat what they say and explain what they meant SHOULD suck the joy right out of what they are trying to do.

Especially if you don't react, and just calmly keep asking them to repeat what they said and they have to keep repeating something not funny/vile, and then explain what they meant, and you STILL don't understand.

I'm going to need you to repeat that.

Can you say that again.

I don't understand…

I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and it’s been a game changer. You pay a farm upfront at the beginning of a season and get a big box of fresh, seasonal produce way cheaper than the grocery store.

For context I get a full year of produce (all seasons) for $600. I pick up my produce weekly at a nearby farmers market and it’s enough for 3 people for my household with leftovers. I even get to swap out veggies I don’t like when I pick up. You can sometimes split up payments as well or do weekly payments. You can also buy per individual seasons as well.

You can find a CSA by Googling ”your city +. CSA, checking LocalHarvest.org, or ask vendors at the farmers market.

If grocery prices are killing your budget, it’s worth looking into.

For example, if you have a queen bed, get a king blanket.

For as long as I can remember i was sleeping on bad soft mattresses, a month ago I rented my first apartment and got my first bed and mattress. At first I found the mattress extremely hard, but a week after sleeping in it, my back pain that I thought was just there at this point and learned to live with it, disappeared.

I don't know if i should mention I'm heavy, like 350 pounds heavy, I don't know if that matters but it saved me out of nowhere.

If you're planning on getting the apple of your eye some flowers or plants this year, be mindful if they have pets. Many of the gorgeous flowers may be deadly to our furry friends.

Lilies for example are one of the most deadly plants to cats - simply touching the flower and grooming off the pollen can send a cat to an early grave.

There's nothing a pet parent will love more than hearing "here's a bouquet, it's all pet safe".

Don’t light them under a smoke alarm!

I’ve found way better results flexing my muscles than shaking and flailing my arm. For me all it takes to regain feeling is a few muscle flexes and I’m good . I discovered this way too late and wanted to share

Generally when we cannot hear someone on the phone, our reaction is to talk louder, which in turn just makes the other person talk even quieter (I am not sure why this is, but in my experience it is 100% true). If you instead start talking quieter, and make the other person strain to hear you, they will start talking louder.

Don’t share your precious time with people who drain you. Surround yourself with those who lift you up, inspire you, and make you feel valued. By doing this, you'll create a positive environment that helps you grow and achieve more. You deserve people who bring out the best in you.

If you’ve ever sent an email with a mistake, Outlook’s Recall feature can help—if the recipient hasn’t opened it yet. This allows you to delete or replace the email before it’s read.

How to Recall an Email in Outlook:

1. Go to your Sent Items folder.
2. Open the email you want to recall.
3. Click File > Resend & Recall > Recall This Message.
4. Select Delete unread copies or Replace with a new message.

The sub rules prohibit me from promoting any products so I can't say the most common brand name, but it comes in a blue cardboard Parmesan "cheese" style can and rhymes with "Mondra". Regardless, it's basically just white flour that has been precooked and dried. What's so great about it is that it mixes into liquids very easily without the clumping that can occur with regular flour. Also since it's par-cooked it doesn't have the raw taste that has to be cooked out your standard all-purpose stuff. It's great if your sauce or gravy is a little thin, just add a bit of this flour and it stirs right in without adding a lot of extra heat or fat.

It's just your basic fortified white flour, nothing weird is added, they just heated it up a bit for you in advance. I was skeptical at first but now I'm a fan. It idiot-proofs a lot of recipes and I need all the help I can get.

Recently became a grad student. What are the discounts/deals/things to get to take advantage of student status?

Reseach shows that taking a short break before you answer makes you appear more trustworthy also. It doesn't need to be a long break, just the length of a breath. But the most important part of this, is that it gives you the opportunity to not become overrun by your emotions and impulsivity. Your answer is then more likely to be of higher quality.

When I'm at work and can't play with my cat, I like to set up a cardboard box with some holes cut into it. She loves chasing her favorite toy mouse around the house, and by placing it inside the box, she has to jump over, crawl under, and paw through the holes to get it. It's a great way for her to stay active without me having to constantly entertain her

When I was walking to my car after work and felt like someone was following me, I started heading towards a nearby park where there were families having picnics. As soon as the person saw that I was being accompanied by others, they turned around and left. It's always safer to be near groups of people in potentially uncomfortable situations

Even when they aren't right, this is such a helpful technique for preventing a debate from going off into irrelevant tangents. It gives them a little win in the argument, which makes them feel good. It makes you look willing to correct yourself. And it brings the conservation back to the actual topic you want to discuss.

I have a voicemail greeting on my cellphone. It's a very particular one because I ended up getting lots of calls from somewhere in Upstate NY, presumably because my number is one number different than whoever the guy is that's in charge of teacher payroll for this Upper Hudson Valley DOE school. Every January and June, I get flooded with calls asking me to help various teachers with getting paid for work they've done at this school and in the past I've individually called everyone back to say, "Hey I'm a vocal coach in Long Island, I'm not that guy". It doesn't stop every new batch or iteration of teachers from then bothering me next year.

So what I did is have a voicemail that said my name and "I am not affiliated with finances at schools in the Hudson Valley region" and then a beep. Someone mentioned to me that they found it personally difficult, especially if they were in the position where they had to leave multiple voicemails, to hear it, and that it could potentially limit outside work I get if they wanted to hire an accompanist and got that voicemail. So I decided to change it to 'Hi this is ______, pianist and accompanist based in Nassau county". Is that clear enough, or do you think some enterprising substitute teacher will go, "Ok he's a pianist in Long Island but MAYBE he also does payroll on the side!"

Is there any way to make that explicit in a greeting without coming off as abrasive or unintentionally hurtful to prospective customers?

I’ve done this a few times, and it’s wild how fast the energy shifts. Instead of escalating the situation, it catches them off guard and makes them reflect on their behavior. People expect anger in response to rudeness, but genuine concern? That throws them off.

One time, a guy was going off on a cashier over something minor, and I just turned to him and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"—not in a sarcastic way, but like I actually meant it. He just blinked, mumbled something, and walked away. It’s like the social reset button. Obviously, don’t use this if you’re in danger, but for everyday passive-aggressive nonsense?

Lots of 1099s and W-2s are sent electronically via email this time of year in the US. I just came across one from a small gig that I would have forgotten about unless I happened to be clearing out my spam folder.

Record video of your home and belongings, starting at the exterior, then moving indoors through each room. Make note of specific items and their approximate purchase price, if you can. If unclear from the video, make note of an object's location.

Keep a copy of the video somewhere safe.

In the event of a fire or other natural disaster, the video will greatly assist you in identifying what was lost, and it will support your insurance claim.