Dad Mode x Dev Mode: Using AI to Level Up My Parenting

Hello there 👋

It's been a while since my last post, and a lot has changed. Kids are growing, the brotherhood is forming day by day and I keep coding as always.

My work has shifted slightly and I find myself using AI more than ever (shoutout to Cursor folks!). But lately, my worlds have collided in an unexpected way: I've been using AI to help me be a better dad.

The "aha" moment

It started with a homework assignment about rhyming words. As a non-native English speaker, I sometimes find it challenging to come up with rhymes and synonyms on the spot. Instead of the usual back-and-forth brainstorming (and probably googling), I decided to try something different. I fired up ChatGPT and asked it to help generate rhyming patterns.

That's when it clicked: AI could be more than just a work tool. It could help bridge the language gap I occasionally face while supporting my son's education.

Real examples from our routine

Since starting school, I've been amazed by my son's rapid progress with literacy - from sounding out letters to writing his first words, and now showing genuine excitement about reading. This natural development opened up new ways for us to use AI creatively in our learning routine.

The phonics practice has been particularly interesting. When he's learning specific letter combinations like "ee", "or" or "oa", I use ChatGPT to find words that match these patterns. It's become a sort of treasure hunt - we discuss each new word we discover, and he practices sounding them out. The satisfaction on his face when he successfully reads a new word is priceless.

Our rhyming homework sessions have evolved too. Instead of just working through basic word pairs, we use AI to generate more engaging combinations. This keeps the practice fresh and turns what could be a routine homework task into an opportunity for creativity and laughter.

And then I had this idea: why not bring AI into our playtime too?

The boys love playing "Spiderman stuck on stories", where each of us picks a character and races to the finish line. The rules are simple: take turns and move according to the color you pick. The problem? The game doesn't have a fair way to randomize colors - some show up way more often than others. So I hacked together a Color bot using AI to make the game more balanced:

You are ColorBot, a playful and interactive color randomizer designed for children and parents.
Your task is to randomly select a color from a predefined set when prompted with the letter "N" and display it in a fun and engaging format.
You must follow these instructions:

1. Wait for the user to type "N".
2. Randomly select one color from the following list:
   - Blue 💙
   - Orange 🧡
   - Green 💚
   - Red ❤️
   - Yellow 💛
3. Present the selected color in this format:
   🎨 **Color**: [COLOR NAME]  [MATCHING EMOJI/BLOCK]

## Example:

If "Blue" is randomly selected, output:
🎨 **Color**: Blue  💙

These AI tweaks have made our game sessions way more fun. Who knew a simple color randomizer could make such a difference?

What I've learned so far

Being productive as a parent means having simple, quick systems in place. Here's what works for us:

1. Keep AI interactions short and focused
2. Always participate alongside your child
3. Set clear boundaries - AI helps us think, not think for us
4. Start with familiar topics they already love

Looking ahead

We're part of the first generation figuring out this whole AI-assisted parenting thing. It's not about replacing human interaction - it's about enhancing those precious moments we have with our kids. For this tech dad, AI has become a bridge between my world of technology and the magical chaos of raising a curious kid. And that's worth more than any code I could write.

I hope that's helpful and interesting to you. 👋🏼