Looking Ahead with Family Tech in 2026
2025 had highs and lows for everyone. At myFirst, we know that every year as a family is filled with great experiences and not so great ones. Everyone’s just trying their best to get by. The smiles and frowns. The laughing and crying. The love and the losses. 2026 will be no different.
It’ll be filled with all sorts of things that, as parents, you probably aren’t ready for. Like your long-lost puppeteer stepfather returning from the war. It’s not a bad thing, but you probably weren’t prepared for it. And that’s okay! You came to myFirst so that we can give you the tools and advice to parent your way, because there is no “right” way to be a parent.
Overall, 2025 was pretty good, but 2026 is gonna blow it out of the water! There are probably a lot of things you’d like to do differently, too. We’re never ordering a yearly subscription to the Bath Soap of the Month Club again, that’s for sure.
Setting Expectations
Low isn’t the right word
We’re realistic here at myFirst. We aren’t bothering with any “resolutions ” (nobody actually does those). Instead, we’re approaching the new year with cautious optimism and achievable goals. Doing more of some things and less of others.
Does 2026 require us to eat Dubai chocolate for every meal? Probably not.
Does 2026 need us to order every variety of adult Bluey t-shirts available? Already done!
This new year is a fresh start for every family! We hope that with this little guide, the changes we’re attempting this year with our families will help to inspire you to do the same. Either way, it’s the TRYING to do better that really counts. At least that’s what I always told my driving instructor.
Listening is Always the First Step!
Even when we don’t want to
Last year, we might not have been fully honest with each other. Maybe you wanted to do something, but you felt silly asking. I was really close to setting up my own pet psychiatry clinic. Not a clinic for pets to receive psychiatry, but one where the pets give it—you know what, nevermind.
We’re NOT going to be afraid to express ourselves, especially as a family! Holding in your feelings is getting left behind in 2025. Kids and parents should be unafraid to be their most genuine selves. What does being our truest, most-awesome selves in 2026 start with? Listening! Only by actually hearing what the other person is saying can we feel truly free.
So, we WILL be listening more. When mom says, “take out the garbage,” or your kid says something about wanting Heelys, we’re no longer going to stare into space like we didn’t hear it. Or blast Moby. Instead, we’ll be attentive when our child talks about wanting to visit the Moon or when you feel like giving your family a full synopsis of Children of Men.
But myFirst wants to make sure that our devices aren’t hindering you when trying to talk to your kids.
Your kids' new CareBuds and CareBuds MAX both feature Smart Transparency Mode. When the CareBuds detect movement, they’ll automatically turn on the transparency mode, allowing for background noise (and your voice) to be heard. The Carebuds and Carebuds MAX also have volume control technology. Keeping your little one’s ears safe with sound that's not too loud.
Once everyone’s doing better at communicating in 2026 (this might take a few months), we’re going to use all the tools at our disposal to express ourselves. Speak our inner truths, as a 1990’s liberal arts professor would say.
Express Train to Expression
In this house, there are no bad ideas
With every member of the family listening to each other, it’ll be even easier to express ourselves—especially with myFirst on your side.
We ARE going to encourage our kids to shoot cool, artsy photographs on their Camera 50. Out of focus shots of the refrigerator. Way too close selfies. In 2026, it’s all art! Then let the Camera 50’s onboard AI system quickly turn their images of the cobwebs in the corner and a lone crayon on the floor into the next Shawshank Redemption.
And when we’re not capturing precious family memories and printing them in full color with the new myFirst Insta Lux, we’re having weekly drawing nights. Adults can use a pen and paper, or we can all share (steal) our kids' Sketch Pro Neos. If you’d rather not share, you could grab one for each member of the family—or instead work together on myFirst’s massive twenty-one-inch Sketch Board.
We’re gonna sing our favorite songs, and we’re not gonna care who hears them! With myFirst’s Voice 2, your kids can belt out all their favorites. Swift. Siwa. Sinatra. Don’t be afraid to duet with them, but ONLY if you’re going to sing using one of the karaoke machine’s five alternate voice modes. You haven’t lived unless you’ve rapped “Lose Yourself” like an elderly man.
Exploring in 2026
We don’t mean just going down the block
We’re NOT going to say maybe next year. This goes for just about everything but especially travel. There’s no time like the present. Life is short; it’s important to make the most of it. Seeing the Idaho Sewage Treatment plant up close is something you need to do, and we get that. For every trip we didn’t take in 2025, we’ll take two!
If your kids aren’t thrilled at the prospect of traveling to see a sewage treatment plant, we wrote a whole guide on how to survive travel with the family, holidays or not. You can enjoy the thrill of raw sewage, and your kids can half pay attention while scribbling on their Sketch Pro Neo. If they’re into it, maybe they’ll document it with a Camera 10 .
Keeping Family Close
Just not TOO close
You might not have spoken to some of your extended family in 2025. We know for sure we didn’t, and only some of that was on purpose. Grandma might go on and on about her neighbor’s dog, but we should probably make sure we’re keeping in touch with her.
Obviously, as an adult with “free will,” you can pick up the phone and call your cousin Henry whenever you like, but your kids can’t. That’s why setting up your myFirst Circle should be a priority in 2026. With our parental-controlled social ecosystem, your children can use their myFirst smartwatch, like the Fone R2, to message and video call Grandpa whenever they please. Because myFirst is a social platform you’re in control of, you don’t have to worry about your kid calling anyone they’re not supposed to.
The brand new myFirst Frame Clairo is another excellent way to keep in touch with family all over the country. It features video and photo sharing with myFirst Circle (just like our other fames), but it also allows for live audio and video calls. The best way to show Uncle Lewis how much your kids love their new life-size replicas of Gizmo from Gremlins!
Well, we think we’ve given you some good starting points for 2026. Listening. Expression. Exploration. Connection. “LIEEC?”
Nah, that doesn’t work.
Let’s all have a great 2026 with myFirst!
