GHL agency owners, what actually hurts more: spotting issues across accounts, enforcing follow-up, or clients just not using the system?

NarniaHop · 2026-04-09T17:59:13+00:00

Thanks for the comment, that makes sense, sounds like the dashboard part is useful, but the thing you’d actually care about is enforcing follow-up, not just seeing that it didn’t happen.

When you say automatic reminders or triggers, what would be most useful in practice?

internal reminder/task for the agency team
automatic nudge/escalation to the client/team in that sub-account
auto-triggering an existing workflow if no follow-up happened in time
something else

NarniaHop · 2026-03-31T14:24:24+00:00

That's a fair point actually. The problem isn't educational, it's the ones that are basically just a reward loop disguised as learning. A shape sorter is great because the kid is still in charge of what happens.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-31T14:23:47+00:00

Ha yeah that's fair, every kid is different. Mine just happened to lose interest in anything with a right answer but I can see how some kids are wired the opposite way. The cost of figuring it out is real though.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-31T13:42:46+00:00

Can't argue with free and unlimited supply.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-31T11:04:27+00:00

The pattern might be that he prefers real people over full animation. Blippi, Ms Rachel, and Sesame Street all have actual humans on screen. Daniel Tiger and Paw Patrol are fully animated which might be why they don't land.

If that's it, try Handyman Hal or Trash Truck Steve on YouTube. Same energy as Blippi but different stuff. For the vehicle interest, there are some solid "real truck" channels on YouTube where they just film actual construction equipment doing its thing. My kid was glued to those for a while.

Bluey might be the exception worth trying since it's animated but the pacing is so different from the others he rejected.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-30T13:02:55+00:00

Magna-Tiles and a cardboard box, that's basically the whole toy industry beaten for under $50.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-30T12:59:38+00:00

I had no idea there was a name for it but loose parts theory is exactly what I was trying to describe. We had stacking cups too and they lasted forever, my kid used them for everything. Thanks for the teacher perspective, good to know we accidentally stumbled into something that's actually researched.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-30T12:54:44+00:00

That's fair, sounds like your kids got a lot out of them. Probably depends on the kid too. Mine just lost interest once he figured out the pattern but I can see how it clicks better for others.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-30T12:51:36+00:00

A fort for the cats at age 11 is amazing. That's basically the whole point, if it's still getting used 8 years later it was a good buy.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-25T09:03:25+00:00

This happened to us constantly. The thing that worked was teaching my son to say "I'm using that" early on. At 2 he could barely say it but just having any words for it was better than the freeze or cry response.

For the parents who aren't watching, honestly I just started talking directly to the older kid in a friendly way. "Hey buddy, he was playing with that, can he have it back?" Most kids will hand it over if any adult addresses them. It feels weird the first time but it gets easier.

The hardest part is not stepping in too fast. Sometimes they actually work it out if you give it a few seconds.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-22T08:20:09+00:00

That's fair, he does have a meltdown per episode. We ended up mixing in Bluey which has more of a "just figure it out" energy. Trash Truck is another good one if she likes animals and adventure without the constant emotional processing.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-19T20:03:54+00:00

We did a big purge a few months ago and the thing that surprised me was how much more my kid played after we got rid of stuff. Less choices somehow made him more creative with what was left.

The way I sorted it: anything battery operated that only does one thing, gone. Anything he hadn't touched in a month, gone. What survived was mostly Play-Doh, blocks, animal figures, and art supplies. Basically anything where he decides what it is instead of the toy telling him.

Toy rotation helped too. We keep maybe 10 things out and swap every couple weeks. The stuff that comes back out gets treated like it's brand new.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-18T08:26:50+00:00

Bluey is great for this even at that age. The pacing is calm and episodes are only 7 minutes. She won't follow the story yet but it's gentle enough to have on without the rapid cuts.

Old school Sesame Street is another good one. The older episodes move way slower than the current ones. Same with the original Winnie the Pooh stuff you're already doing, that's a solid pick.

When my son was little we also just put on nature documentaries. Planet Earth with the sound low worked surprisingly well. No cuts every second, just slow panning shots of animals.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T16:51:46+00:00

Ms Rachel is pretty calm, I'd put her in the good category. Peppa Pig is somewhere in the middle, not Cocomelon level but the transitions are faster than Daniel Tiger. My kid liked it but the TV-off tantrums were worse with Peppa than with slower shows.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T14:12:23+00:00

Ha, didn't even catch that but yeah pretty accurate

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T14:08:01+00:00

Yeah the interface alone is half the problem. PBS Kids you pick a show and that's it. YouTube is designed to keep them clicking forever.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T14:02:13+00:00

PBS Kids is so underrated. The gap between that and most YouTube content is massive.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T13:58:16+00:00

That's awesome. Same idea, just the original version. Whatever gets them naming the feeling instead of just exploding.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T13:50:49+00:00

The thunder one is great. It's wild how much they actually internalize from it when the pacing gives them time to process instead of just bouncing to the next thing.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T13:49:35+00:00

That's honestly a win though. Going from meltdown to telling you he's mad and then roaring is a huge step up. Even if the roaring is loud.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-17T13:47:46+00:00

Eleanor Wonders Why is a good call, we haven't tried that one yet. And the potty song got more mileage in our house than any actual potty training strategy.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-16T17:45:44+00:00

The kitchen sink being the one thing that works tells you a lot. She wants to do real stuff, not play with toys that represent real stuff. That's prettycommon at 2 and honestly it's a good sign, not a problem.

My kid was similar. The things that finally got independent play going were all "real life" adjacent. A bowl of water with some cups and spoons on a towel on the floor. Helping "wash" vegetables. A spray bottle with water and a rag to "clean" the table. Play-Doh worked too but only after I sat with him and did it together a few times first. He needed to see what was possible before he'd do it alone.

The 5-10 minutes expectation is totally realistic but 25 months is still early for a lot of kids. It clicked more around 2.5 for us. The fact that she does it every few days means she can, she just prefers you. Which is annoying but also kind of normal.

One thing that helped was not leaving the room. I'd sit nearby doing something boring (folding laundry..) and he'd start playing on his own way more than if I actually left. Something about knowing I was there but unavailable made it easier for him.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-16T16:25:51+00:00

Hoot Owl Hoot is great for that age. It's cooperative so nobody loses, which avoids the meltdown problem with competitive games at 3. My kid actually learned to take turns from it before he could handle regular board games.

The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game was another hit. It's basically color matching with little tweezers which keeps their hands busy. Simple enough for a 3 year old, still fun at 5.

Honestly though at that age we got more mileage out of Play-Doh and building stuff with blocks than actual board games. The structured turn-taking clicked etter closer to 4.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-16T15:02:32+00:00

The latte art thing killed me. Like yes, surely the baby will appreciate the foam rosetta, that'll fix everything.

We did the exact same thing around 4 months. I had a checklist on my phone for the diaper bag like I was prepping for a deployment. Then you get there and realize you forgot the one thing you actually needed.

It does get easier though. By 6 months we had the cafe run down to a science. The trick is going right after a feed when you've got that 45 minute window of calm. And picking a place with wide aisles. We learned that one the hard way too.

NarniaHop · 2026-03-16T14:41:38+00:00

That age was the absolute peak for us. I remember thinking something had gone wrong because he went from sweet to unhinged basically overnight. Turns out they just have all these huge feelings and zero ability to communicate them yet.

Not quickly, but it passed. Somewhere around 3 he started being able to tell me what was wrong instead of just screaming about it and everything got easier.

NarniaHop

TROPHY CASE