COVID: Using your only laptop for work with little kids? Try this instead…

I don’t know about you, but even before the CoronaVirus I was paranoid about my young kids using my computer. As a single mom, I have one computer and my whole livelihood is tied up in that flat metallic gray notebook. If my laptop were to go on the fritz, my fragile freelance business would grind to a halt instantly (which it’s pretty much done now anyway 😬). So now that no new jobs are coming in, I cling to what I do have and am more protective of it than ever — It represents my main connection to the outside world as we hunker down.

Daily, I have been sitting down to do online learning with my kids, and all three of us have come to look forward to it. It gives us some reassuring structure and familiarity to the day that is much needed. Unfortunately, because they are 5 and 8 years old, they don’t seem to really grasp the meaning of “Be careful!”, which is what I say every time they hit the touchpad a little too hard. I needed to find a solution asap, so I could relax a bit.

Then I remembered… I had bought a cord that connects my laptop to the TV, and then the TV becomes the monitor. I had bought it last year for some of the health shows I watch that are available only via the internet.

I set it up two days ago and it is such a relief! All I have to worry about now, is if they break the mouse somehow, which is easily replaceable. Plus, we all aren’t huddled around a little laptop trying to pass it around for everybody to “take a turn”. Now, I hook my laptop up to the cord, get the mouse out, and pass that (the mouse) around instead. SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Here’s how I did it…

Plug the HDMI Cable into the TV HDMI port.
Plug the HDMI / USB-C Adaptor onto the end of the HDMI cable you just plugged into the TV.
Now, plug the end of that adaptor into your laptop.
With your remote, select the HDMI option on your TV and then Voilà! — what you see on your laptop monitor will also display on your TV screen.
Now grab the wireless mouse, and your kids, and start learning! Here are some good resources I posted about the other day.

Watch me set it up below…