My First Giveaway Of The Year
January 4th, 2008 by Fiddledeedee
I’m giving away “BOB.” BOB isn’t an unwanted pet, nuisance of a neighbor, or one of my children. “BOB” is an electronic device that will revolutionize the manner in which you monitor your children’s television and computer viewing habits.
It will be as though you, their parent, are standing right over their shoulder shouting “TURN IT OFF RIGHT NOW, AND I MEAN IT!” Yet, in reality, you’re in the next room, baking them cookies. Looking like the perfect mother. Without the yelling.
A win-win situation in my parenting manual.
“BOB” is manufactured by Hopscotch Technologies. It works on any electronic device that has a screen. You simply plug it in and set the timer to control the amount of time the child watches. Once a child reaches an hourly, daily, or weekly limit, “BOB” automatically shuts off the screen. And it can be programmed to accommodate up to 6 users.
And here’s the best part.
It’s EASY to set up and use. And children, who are technically more proficient than some adults, ahem, cannot tamper with it. It is also compact, and takes up very little space.
If only childproof locks worked so well. My children manage those with ease, while I cannot.
Now for the giveaway part. The nice folks at Hopscotch Technologies are giving away a free system right here at It Coulda’ Been Worse! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, and I’ll use Mr. Random Number Generator to randomly select a number. At random. I’ll keep comments open until midnight Saturday (pacific time) and post the results on Sunday. Now, I’m not on Pacific Time, but there is no way I can stay up until midnight eastern standard time. Which is what I’m on. And it’s really midnight.
Are you confused? Get in line. Condensed version, “you have until Saturday night to leave a comment and be entered in the drawing.”
Duplicate comments, not that any of y’all would do such a dastardly thing, will be deleted.
ALSO, Hopscotch Technologies has authorized me to give my readers a special promotion of $10.00 off and free shipping for the next 30 days. Just use “FIDDLEDEEDEE” as the promotional code.
Good luck everyone!
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Updated: Fiddledaddy just brought it to my attention that I completely screwed up the time zones. How embarrassing. If I end the contest at midnight Pacific Time, that’s 3 in the morning here. I’m hoping to be unconscious with some serious pillow marks on my face at that hour.
I’ll try again. I’m closing comments at 9:00 Saturday night, Eastern Standard Time.
Fiddledaddy just quipped, “Well, at least you’re pretty.”
I have the business end of a frying pan that has his name written all over it. 
COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED.
Posted in Reviews & Giveaways |
January 4th, 2008 at 12:47 am
well cool. though i might need it more than my kids do. does it work for computer time too?
January 4th, 2008 at 12:59 am
This has to work way better than the ole kitchen timer method which we currently employ. It’s amazing how long they can make 30 minutes last when I’m not looking! Count me in!
January 4th, 2008 at 1:47 am
What a perfect, wonderfully diabolical “let me off the hook” contraption. What a wonderful dream: “What do you mean, the TV quit working, Sweetie?? Maybe someone can check it out sometime tonight.” My question is, how can it be attached to a computer in such a way that an adult-type male can’t sabotage it? lol Anyway, please put me on the list.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Maybe I can program it to get ME off the ‘puter.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Oh please enter me and pick me! We keep looking at this and looking - I’m so tired of being the bad guy around here!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I had a Bob once.
It was a car.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Oh pleeeeeaaaase pick me! With 4 kids and one TV and couldn’t possibly watch another episode of Hannah Montana or Wings of War! I’m desperate!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:53 am
I definitely need this. My little one hates to have the tv off even if he isn’t in the same room.
He gets that from me. I like the background noise. I suppose we both need this. lol
January 4th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Thanks for the contest!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Oh, this sounds wonderful. Please enter me!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Oh, oh, oh…pick me! I NEED this!!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Awesome! I would love to have a BOB.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Ooooh, this is just what I need to monitor the kids computer usage!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:48 am
What a great substitute for my “Media Ticket Chart” which I can never remember to use!!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Oh Great Random Number Generator, pick me! That would REALLY help me be a little lazier about my responsible parenting role, and I am ALL for that!!!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Sounds like a great idea. Count me in, please!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Hi dee dee, Thats a clever thingummy jig!
No use to me as my kids are both huge and would be flabberghasted if I said there was a limit on the telly. Would be handy for monitoring the hubby but I think there would be words LOL
Did you know the words on your pages are now showing one above the other in a long,long line like wierd poetry?
January 4th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Hi! Please enter me. I have no backbone so it would really help!
January 4th, 2008 at 8:26 am
WOW! I could definitely use one of these.
Thank you for offering it.
January 4th, 2008 at 8:34 am
No entry, just an endorsement. We have BOB, and we love him! Each of the kids has a code, changed weekly, that we give them when they’ve finished with their weeks’ duties (household responsibilities and homeschool work, plus other duties as assigned). They each have 2 hours of viewing time, and whoever has his/her code plugged in gets to choose the program, so it eliminates bickering over who gets to choose. Of course they all watch the wretched thing whenever it’s on, so we still end up with 8 hours of TV between Friday and Sunday, but it’s better than it was before BOB. YAY BOB!
January 4th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Excellent! Please sign me up! Wait, I guess I just signed myself up
Please choose me Mr. Random Number Generator!
January 4th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Bob would be such a big help around here. I just love the way that sounds. someone else to blame. Bob did it.
January 4th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I have four children who love movies AND the computer, and BOB would make my life infinitely easier to track the usage of both. Pick me, pick me, pick me, PLEASE!!!
January 4th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I love the name “Bob”……no, really, I do!
January 4th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Seems I’m not the only Mommy who needs one of those for myself. Ahem. Thanks.
January 4th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I would love to become acquainted with ‘Bob’. I think we could be friends! Does he do dishes too?
January 4th, 2008 at 10:01 am
This is really cool, how awesome. Knowing my boys they will learn how to “reprogram BOB” but it is worth a shot.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:05 am
This sounds like a wonderful tool. I would love to win it!
January 4th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Add me please!
January 4th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Pick me!!! I’m so tired of hollering “turn that off” too!!!
January 4th, 2008 at 11:41 am
That’s so cool- I’ve never seen anything like that before. We could totally use one.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:49 am
DeeDee gots connections!! Does Bob rat you out if someone over rides it? Just trying to stay a few steps ahead of the bunch.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I monitor WHAT my children watch, but am not so good in the discipline department, enforcing the turn-on time!
January 4th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
This is such an awesome device. My son the TV hound could definetly use it. Please enter me.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Oh, I need to get out of the house more. I honestly thought BOB (in this post) stood for Battery Operated Boyfriend and I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out 1) why you were blogging about it and B) why you were giving it away. Holy Heck. ; ) No more coffee for me…LOL!
January 4th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I think I need this for my own computer time as much as for my kids!
January 4th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Yes siree, BOB! I could use one of those for sure.
January 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
My little one is just starting to hit the age where this is going to become a concern.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
That would save a lot of fights with the kids on how much tv they watch. My kids asked me if commercials count as tv time. Oh My!
January 4th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
We could use one of these for our household!!
January 4th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
No more asking, “How long have you been playing the ps2? Why is the timer stopped at 29 seconds left? Are you trying to sneak in more minutes?! TURN IT OFF NOW!”
January 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
What a wonderful idea… For those moments when we say 30 minutes and we get busy! Just great!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
BoB sounds wonderful! Sign me up.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I’m looking for a date with BoB!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Pick me oh random bloggy picker thingie, pick me!!
January 4th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I have been thinking about this thing ever since I first heard about it. My kids are obsessed with Webkinz & this would make things so much easier on me!!!
January 4th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Please count me in!
January 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I’d love one of these for my husband
January 4th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Sure. We could use one of these. That’d give us more computer/blog time!
January 4th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Oh, pick me! Pick me!
Ever since my 8-and-11-year-olds discovered that you could Google “Britney Spears” and get a whole list of websites about her, we’ve needed one of these.
Do you have any CLUE how many gross sites there are about Britney Spears and her wardrobe — or lack of it? You do NOT want to know.
BOB could be my new best friend!
January 4th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Pick me!! pick Me!!! I need one…and I better hurry up and get this posted (and be sure to close this site) so that my kids don’t happen upon this and then add duplicate entries so my own is invalidated! LOL They so do not want me to get this.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
i would love this-something to take the pressure off “bad mommy” for saying turn the tv off.
January 5th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Ohh… sign me up!
Come on random number generator — be kind to me! °Ü°
THANKS!!
January 5th, 2008 at 11:57 am
The perfect gadget to keep my “just a few minutes” updates from morphing into “just a few hours” before I can figure out what happened
January 5th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Enter me too please - my four and seven year olds have taken over my computer
January 5th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I think I might wind up needing it more than the children!
Love your blog…it’s the first one I ever read on a daily basis!
January 5th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
This sounds wonderful!! I think dh needs one called “DAD” too, but baby steps, right?
January 5th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
That IS cool! With all the Britney, Lindsay, Jamie Lynn mess on tv, I amready to do some serious policing!
January 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
will it turn off the DH’s computer at 2 am too?
January 5th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Ok, I think I got in under the clock!! It is 8:55 here in the armpit….