Notes for the Sitter: How to Turn on the TV

I don’t tend to have this problem with young, hip, tech savvy sitters, but when my parents come over to watch the kids, they can’t figure out how to turn the TV on. It doesn’t help that the buttons on our remote have been rubbed clean of any distinguishing marks.

Instead of writing down directions 100 times as I attempt to pull up my pantyhose, or hurriedly pointing to buttons as I fly out the door, I decided to take advantage of that digital camera and make a picture that is worth a thousand words.

You can just snap the shot and mark up your photo with a pen after it prints, or you can use a simple photo editing program to add some call-outs (Corel PhotoPaint, for example). You can even use the Draw toolbar in Word to add annotation.

For my work documenting software, I use snagit (a free 30 day trial can be downloaded at www.snagit.com), so I have it handy. Make a few quick notes on the image and add some step -by-step next to the image or in your word processing software. Save for later and never leave your parents stuck watching Noggin for six hours while you party your head off.

Click on either image to see a larger version.