If you have a kid who is going to be using technology this year, you want to listen to this podcast. We are talking about technology and tweens and teens as well as some of the pitfalls and pluses you can expect.
Some things we include in this podcast:
Erin talks about her past as a social media Luddite and tells a little about the path that led her to become a reformed technology convert.
How group chats are like the Wild West of the internet
The potential trap of creating a technology contract
Things to say when you give your child their first piece of personal technology
How to use filtering software as training wheels for technology
We also want to put resources right here in your hands right NOW so you can pin or bookmark them for whenever you might need them.
Some posts we have written about technology and kids:
We are adding the following guides because THESE sites are where your kids hang out online. Follow the guides to educate yourself and make a plan with your kid about how your family will treat technology.
Move over, turkey, things are about to get all Christmas-y up in here. We can scarcely believe we are saying this, but Christmas is literally around the corner. As you start to make those cookies, trim those trees, and be-deck those halls, you also need to get serious about all those presents. You know we are good for gift ideas for tweens and teens, and if you have one, you know a smartphone is definitely at the top of that list. But before you brave long lines and sign up for a data plan, think about giving the most important gift of all: the gift of digital citizenship.
Digital citizenship is the idea that kids don’t just consume technology but are empowered by it. With this in mind, here are some things you can do to encourage digital citizenship in your child:
Do Your Homework.
Be the smart consumer and research before you buy. Make sure you understand what you are buying and how it works. That’s the easy part. Now for the hard part: really look at your kid and be honest with yourself and your child about whether they are developmentally ready for this step. Be prepared to wait until your child is ready. “Because everyone else has one” is not a good bar here. Think of technology as the ultimate amusement park: you need to be this mature to ride.
Talk about it. A lot.
The talk about technology and being responsible in the digital space is not a one and done conversation. Be available and keep yourself informed. Ask where kids are hanging out online, find out what they they are doing, see where they play. The most successful digital parents we have seen are super informed consumers of technology who can talk the technology talk with their tweens and teens. They also set firm guidelines, but are open to negotiation. Citizenship is about learning to make informed, smart choices, and your kids need opportunities to be decisive on their own while being safe online. Let your child know that you are right there with them in that digital space but you want them to learn to navigate it on their own.
Buddy up.
This is an important responsibility and they will need lots of support from you in handling it. Make sure your child knows from the beginning that this is something you will be checking in on from time to time. Yes, this means you might be prove to some of the most boring text exchanges ever set to screen. On the flip side, playing a little Hay Day together from time to time isn’t all bad. You can consider it low rent espionage as to how your kid is really using that smartphone.
Of course, another way to do this is with some smart parental control software. In particular, the new Family Safeguard just released on November 27th is one we especially like. We have reviewed it before here and you can read about all of its great features. In particular, we like that it doesn’t just monitor kids’ activity online but gives you the tools to encourage that digital citizenship we are talking about.
And in the spirit of giving, we have a special offer from Familoop for all of you:
A 2 month subscription on Familoop Safeguard Premium 10
There is no limit to the number of parents who can take advantage of the deal so share this code freely with all your friends. They’ll think it’s Christmas! Oh, wait . . .
But seriously, if a smartphone or two is going under your tree this year, give yourself the gift of peace of mind and your kids the gift of digital citizenship this Christmas.
After all, our goal is to prepare our kids for how to be good citizens of their world. Theirs just happens to be a digital one.
I have a confession to make: I used to be a social media Luddite. You remember the Luddites, right? In the 19th century, they were the ones tearing down the mills, because, you know, milled wheat would be the downfall of mankind. When my kids first started asking about cellphones and playing with tablets, I panicked and started looking for my own wrench to throw in the whole social media works. Too much drama, too much exposure, too much access to things my kids don’t need in their life— it was all just too much. Since burning the internet to the ground was not a viable option, I leaned hard on every mother’s handy back-up plan: I banished devices outright. I even added a “my kids will never!” on top just for good measure.
That one obviously didn’t take. I look back at my former self with compassion and an epic eye roll. Teaching digital citizenship to middle schoolers for the past 4 years has taught me not only that social media is here to stay, but that there are positives to counteract all the fears. There are also ways for me to help my children navigate this tricky terrain while still remaining in the driver’s seat. If this mom can have a change of heart and a social media plan that’s airtight, you can too.
Technology is part of our brave new world. Hop on board.
Let’s start with the upsides. Social media provides a space to connect with friends who don’t live close by, an opportunity to create social change and practice activism, an outlet for creative kids to not just create but share their creations, and a chance to amplify their experience and share it in a way that can be profoundly affecting. It can even connect families across generations. Social media may not be magic but some of the things that it can do practically reek of pixie dust.
It may not be Norman Rockwell, but we’ll take it.
But social media’s greatest strengths are also part of the problem. By nature, these platforms connect kids across devices rather than in person. This level of anonymity leaves kids vulnerable and exposed. Cyberbullying, privacy breaches, errors in judgment that last as long as a digital footprint (so basically forever), and emotional fallout from digital interactions gone the way of a middle school lunchroom on steroids are real and present dangers every time they sign in.
But we can’t just tilt at windmills here. Our kids today view their online and offline relationships as one and the same which means that as parents we cannot just tear the social media platforms down. Sure, we could banish them forever, but that would deny us the chance to parent our kids through this important place of interaction with their peers. This may not look like the sandbox at the playground, but the process is still the same: insert good parenting here.
Now, climb down out of that tree and put away that paper bag you have at the ready. This is as easy as 1, 2, 3.
First, educate yourself. If you are not computer-savvy, ask your four year old to catch you up. Learn the ins and outs of the social media platforms where the tweens and teens hang out. To save yourself some time, you can skip Facebook altogether, that’s just for us Moms to humble brag about our kids. Next, find some websites that you can bookmark when you have a question. Now that you have a day’s worth of google searching to do, sit back and relax and get ready to send us a great Christmas present, because we already did all this for you.
Second, be available, interested, and around. Social media menaces love a parent who has checked out. Make sure from the minute your babies sign up for an account that they know that you are around, that you are watching, and that you will be talking about anything you see that warrants a discussion. You can also talk about expectations and rules for how much time kids will spend on devices. Not sure what to say, here are some ideas. Oh, and here are some more about talking to your kids in general.
Third, find the right tools to keep your kids safe. Start with the links we shared above. Then check out this new app, Family Safeguard, due to hit the market on November 27th. With Familoop Safeguard, all of those great rules you have made for devices can be more than just a great family exercise, they can actually help shape kids into responsible digital citizens. By analyzing what kids post, this app can highlight areas of concern. There are even convenient little red alerts to guide you to your next talking points. The clear one page summary of all your child’s digital activity is not just helpful, it’s so appreciated by those of us who have more than one child who has gone digital. Even better, it can track more than fifteen different social media channels in the summary.
Some Things We Like
1. Parents can set limits on access during school and for bedtime. It helps reinforce family decisions about screen time and game limits.
2. It is available for all Windows products, including Windows 8, Mac OS, Android, and is coming soon to iOS.
3. Crazy simple to set up, once you sign up and approve your email address, the system will carefully walk you through setting up Familoop Safeguard on your child’s PCs, laptops, tablets, and phones and start safeguarding right away. All devices, all social media platforms, all aspects of a child’s digital footprint in one place just for you.
4. We really like the style AND the substance of this app.
Familoop Safeguard is the only parental control software available that automatically connects to all the social networks kids are using without account login information. From the Activity feed, parents get a full summary of a child’s activity online. The sites he visited, the searches he did, even the comments he made online and the sites that were blocked are all right there for you. Parents can even save it and have a look later as all of these saved sites and events are collected in a folder. Nothing but smiles from this mom with all this information readily available and so easily accessed.
5. As a mom with five kids at all different stages, elementary through high school, I also really appreciated the customizable templates of protection rules. This means that I can set restrictions differently for my 8 year old than for my 16 year old which is not only appropriate, but a key to familial harmony.
6. Also, while most parental controls software don’t take into account that kids can talk to the same person on all their different social networks, Familoop Safeguard merges all conversations with the same person into one place and gives you that handy red alert for a person or event that needs attention.
7. Family Safeguard has a reasonable price point with an offer of 60% off if you register at Family Safeguard now. Familoop Safeguard 10 day Trial – unlimited number of protected devices – Free Familoop Safeguard Premium 3 – Protects 3 devices – $39.99/ year or $4.99/ month Familoop Safeguard Premium 10 – Protects 10 devices – $69.99/ year or $9.99/ month
Overall, this app looks to be exactly the kind of app that you can use when managing your child’s social media. In fact, just add this one to the ever-growing chest of tools that will not only help your kid navigate but thrive in this new digital world.
Our goal after all is not to cut off our kids from all potential dangers, but to prepare and teach them how to take care of themselves. Our kids aren’t just future digital citizens: they are living, working, and playing in that space here and now. While all families will make their own decisions about how to handle social media and all the devices, these steps will help you think about the risks, design a plan for your family, and then follow through on it to keep your kids safe online.
Take back the driver’s seat in your child’s social media
while preparing your kids to be good digital citizens.
Well, it’s official—autumn is here. Although fall is just as likely to punk us as shower us with pumpkin spice everything, we still love it or, at the very least, have to live through it. Sure, jam-packed schedules, rushed meals on the fly, and school’s many demands threaten to take us down, but we have learned a thing or two.
Step 1: Mutter under your breath, “This too shall pass.”
Step 2: Repeat Step 1 often.
Step 3: Rock the life hacks that keep our families afloat instead of drowning in the carpool.
Click the image to enlarge.
To hear the conversation–or maybe brain dump is a better description—where we lay it all out for you, just click the player at the bottom to hear our latest podcast. We give up the goods about all the tricks and practices that make our lives work.
Now we mention some really great stuff in this podcast, and since we’re nothing if not helpful, we’re hooking you up with a bevy of links. But you should consider these links the breadcrumbs to lead you back to where you really want to be: listening to our podcast. That’s where it ALL is.
1) We wax awfully poetic about our love for crockpots in this podcast. Two of our favorite crockpot recipes are Apricot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin and French Country Chicken. We get really excited about these, so seriously, go check them out. Now, we don’t mention these other recipes specifically, but we have a whole slew of yummy crockpot meals so if you want more, have at it. We highly recommend it.
2) We also mention a favorite recipe planning book that we both use. Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites: More Great Recipes That Save You Time and Money from the Inventors of the Ultimate Do-Ahead Dinnertime Method Shwoo, that’s a mouthful. Just click on this Amazon link and buy it now. Yes, we get a teeny tiny compensation, but we promise to throw that penny in a fountain and wish happy thoughts for you. If you don’t end up loving or using this book as much as we both do, re-gift it to your sister-in-law. She’s awesome and busier than you anyway. She’ll think you’re a genius for thinking of it.
But you’re probably going to want to keep your copy and buy your sister-in-law a new one because we have a Sisterhood Secret for you right here. In an unusual turn of events, Ellen took organization to a new level and created a coordinated menu of eight of the recipes with a complete shopping list for them all. Yeah.
3) We also introduce you to this great gal named Alisa who blogs at Mondays are Forever because she introduced Ellen to the Keep app from Google, our newest tech crush. We might get a little excited talking about this in the podcast. Bringing everything full circle, you can input the menu shopping list mentioned above, and just use it over and over again. Worth checking out, no?
And if you need more of a teaser, we share the do’s and don’ts of carpooling, the school supplies we ALWAYS have in our stash, and a little more about how we juggle all of the balls and why we do it.
Homework on the fly.
Intrigued? Interested? Desperate to hear a little something funny with a side of sensible?
Well, click that player at the bottom and hear our podcast.
“My child will never have a smartphone!” might not be the best parenting strategy for technology. You KNOW we are not big fans of “never” because you’ll get bitten in the butt faster than wearing meat pants to a pitbull convention. “Never” is hard to back away from, and even trickier to enforce. And meat pants just smell rancid.
Granted, you may think that avoiding technology eradicates the whole problem of too much screen time and too much sharing, but does it really? Maybe what you’re really missing is the opportunity to teach your kids how to use and respect mobile world wide web access.
The smartphone is not going away, folks; in fact, it is busily staking claims as an essential part of your children’s education. Ellen’s daughter would not be surviving 11th grade without the scientific calculator app and the ability to write papers in Google Drive on her phone as she travels home from her tennis matches.
But social media can be a beast, even for adults. Case in point, Gwyneth Paltrow could use a little guidance unless it’s actually her publicist’s plan–in the spirit of all press is good press–for her to stick her social media Manolo in her mouth every ten seconds. We just think crow can be pretty tough to swallow without millions of dollars to soften it.
Since it’s not really the smartphone, per se, that is the problem, but what it gives your kids access to, the first step to taming the beast is to educate yourself about social media. But don’t sweat that because we wrote a social media primer–Tips For Handling Social Media With Your Kids-covering everything from Snapchat to Vines and all of the gigabytes in between.
In our post, we shared about some parental control apps too. While these don’t take the place of talking with your child about all things social media, they do serve as training wheels for the internet. Since we wrote that post, a new app has hit the scene: OurPact. If time marches on, tech time quadruple steps and we need to hustle together to keep pace.
What sends our sensibility senses tingling with this one? It’s more than its superb functionality, it’s OurPact’s philosophy:
We feel that parents and children should work together to create balanced schedules that fit each family member’s unique routine. To that end, we’ve built a powerful tool that removes barriers to parents direct involvement in their children’s technology use.
How you can manage your child’s mobile phone use with OurPact:
Schedule internet and app time according to your children’s schedules with the ability to vary it up between the weekdays and weekends.
Set the number of hours your children spend on the internet or within apps.
Block access to internet or apps at-a-touch.
Allow more time and access at-a-touch.
This app functions as a time management tool, too, because it helps you teach your child that homework time is a time free from pinging distractions. Your child can still use her phone as a calculator or to look up the inventor of the grilled cheese, but the distractions of Instagram and Snapchat can be blocked.
What we really appreciate about OurPact is it’s at-a-touch responsiveness. Life with kids is unpredictable and a schedule is only as good as it’s flexibility. Big brother’s soccer game spilling into dinner time? You can grant instant access with the touch of a button to keep little sis’s mind off of her growling stomach.
OurPact also realizes technology cannot just be teased out as ONE part of your child’s life, it is integrated into ALL parts of it. Besides giving you peace of mind and teaching kids about the responsible use of the internet, this app can also help you manage household chore lists and rewards. Can you believe it?! We know!
A mobile phone gives your child a wide-open portal to the carnival that is the internet. OurPact helps you manage that access to harness the good the internet has to offer.
OurPact’s mission is clear: “Let us help you strike a perfect balance.”
And our sensible advice is clear: “Never say never, but never wear meat pants.”
-Ellen and Erin
Discover all that OurPact has to offer and get it for yourself in iTunes. Coming to the Google Play Store at the end of April.
This is a sponsored post written by us on behalf of OurPact, but all opinions and desires to help you guide your children in the use of the internet are our own. And the advice on neat pants? Definitely all us.
On this episode of As the Technology Turns, Erin has come to an important decision . . .
Erin: I did it! You’ve been badgering me, and at times I resented you for it, but now I can see the truth, and, well, I DID IT!
Ellen: I think I speak for all of us. What?
Erin:It’s just that I finally decided to break up with iPhone. It took me a while to come around, but I’ve finally seen the light. I was dependent and trusting, but all iPhone did was toy with me and make me jump through hoops; all while I forked over my money to support it.
Ellen: Hallelujah and pass the Cheezits! it’s about time! I usually take the high road and refrain from trashing old boyfriends immediately, but you know I’ve got no love for Apple, so I’ll just say iPhone SUCKED!
And this isn’t just me wrapped in my granny shawl shaking my cane. About three weeks ago, I was in the Apple Store to get my daughter’s broken screen replaced. A screen that had broken from a two foot fall, and despite a case. All I wanted to do was give them $129 to fix the screen. What I got was a “genius” locking me out of my AppleID account, sitting on hold with Apple customer service WHILE I WAS ACTUALLY IN THE STORE, and ultimately leaving with my broken screen.
Erin:Things didn’t go much better for me because I have to tell you that the break-up is going about 4,050 degrees south of fine. Of course, I did throw out an”it’s not me, it’s you,” but I couldn’t have anticipated the height the hackles would be raised. Apple didn’t take the news of my leaving well.
Ellen: You should have anticipated it from all of my rantings! Apple is a cult and iPhone is its brainwashing megalomaniac leader. Anything Apple and iPhone can do, PC and Android can do for cheaper . . . and with more expandable memory.
Erin:But you have to understand. Until earlier this month. I had been living the life of fast internet and seamless cell service. Modern motherhood requires decent communication between the mobile mom unit and her minions and my iPhone 4S was making it happen.
Ellen: Except when it would drop calls, freeze texts, and shut down without warning. You just adapted to its bad boy ways without even knowing you were doing it.
Erin:Okay, Miss Thang, I DID come to my senses. You miss the good life when it’s gone, especially when it’s leaving is so, so ugly. Anybody with even one carpool to manage knows that phone malfunctions are a recipe for disaster. In the case of the multi-directional dynamic Dymowskis, it almost brought down our whole enterprise. I was becoming persona non grata in the neighborhood for missing important calls and texts.
Ellen: You and your “persona non grata.” What you were doing was morphing into a primo pariah, and, more importantly, you were pissing me off, too. You’re a wee bit communication challenged with a working phone, so this was getting ridiculous.
Erin:I could see the writing on the wall for this relationship, but I just didn’t want to give up. I couldn’t admit that my trusty sidekick was not so trusty anymore! Never!
Ellen: Trusty? For products that are so “bug free,” there sure are a lot of people flooding the store to get their problems solved.
Erin:I couldn’t help it, I started making excuses for my phone’s bad behavior. It had an old battery; it had been ages since I had given it a hard reboot; I hadn’t cleaned the screen in forever–it probably just needed a little TLC.
Ellen: So does the Apple Store serve red Kool-Aid to its members?
Erin:Listen, we had been together almost three years, my little 4S and me, and I wasn’t looking to upgrade. For one thing, moving up would mean moving to a new charger. I know it seems inconsequential, but the 10 chargers lying around my house would all immediately be rendered useless to me. And for another thing, I wasn’t feeling any special love for the 4S’s shinier, fancier brothers.
Ellen: Just more evidence of The Man “upgrading” models for no reason. Oh wait, there is a reason. So that you will be left with useless junk, and have to throw more money at his feet. You know Androids charge with a universal USB, right? The same kind of USB you can buy in Walgreens for five bucks?
Erin:Apple does bring out a side in you, but you’re right. Apple’s first evil move was to immediately take the 4S replacement option off the table completely.
Ellen: Immediately? Oh, you just wait a minute! You’re already looking at the past with rose-colored glasses. They first told you to bring in your 4S and leave it overnight so they could “see what they could do.” Mind games! They were inconveniencing you because they knew by your second trip to their Ring of Hell store, you would just cave and upgrade when they “tsked, tsked” and told you,”Sorry, but there is nothing we can do.”
Erin:Yeah, Apple was practically forcing my hand into a union with the 5S or 6, neither of which was looking like anything special. So I defiantly threw my Solo cup of Kool- Aid to the floor and started poking around comparing phones.
Ellen: I have never been more proud. You HAVE finally seen the light.
Erin:Oh, but this is where things took a dark turn. The LG G3 was emerging as the clear winner across the board and, as a bonus, it came with a free tablet. I knew I needed to leave iPhone behind, but when I told the Verizon worker that I was contemplating the move, something snapped behind his baby blues. He actually looked a little panicked and afraid.
Ellen: No one leaves the cult! It’s the only explanation for why people turn a blind eye to screens that shatter from the force of a butterfly’s fart. Jeez people, there is an entire industry dedicated to FIXING BROKEN APPLE SCREENS.
Sorry, I got a little more riled up. So did he bring in the “muscle” to convince you to stay?
Erin: Practically. Apple actually held my iMessages hostage. A last ditch effort to get me to see the error of my ways, and apparently it happens all the time.
Ellen: Hostages and cults go together like iPhones and cracked screens. Just sayin’.
Erin:But the worst was when I went home and looked my Mac and iPad in their retina displays and said,”I have a new boyfriend . . . and he’s an Android.”
Ellen: I am starting a slow clap for you.
Erin: I know, right? But the truth is that if every other piece of technology in your home is an Apple, it is a little like going off the reservation.
Ellen: Or leaving a cult.
Erin:Okay! It’s a cult! But I’m happy things turned out the way they did. Big, pretty screen, nice camera, and, best of all, texts, tweets, and emails delivered in real time. My LG G3 and I are gonna be just fine.
Ellen: And there is one less Apple disciple in the world. Amen.
Social media can seem like a scary, gnashing machine ready to chew up your precious darlings and ruin every job interview they have from now to forever, amen. Sexting. Bullying. A forever footprint. These are just a few of our least favorite things.
But just take a moment and relax, friend. This is a soft place to land because we are the best tour guides ever. Not only do we understand the hostile environment because we are navigating the social media mire every day with our own teens and tweens, we have the resources and knowledge to help you, too. In addition to our working-in-it-every-day internet savvy, Erin is a middle school teacher showing kids the internet ropes each and every day.
Parenting favors the well-prepared. Behold all that you need to arm yourself with information (and lots of it) to stay one step ahead of your tech savvy kids.
We’re all living in the twenty-first century, but some of us are embracing it a little more than others. If you are completely clueless, start with Teach Parents Tech. This site makes our heart sing. It will walk you through nearly every step of basic computer functions. What to do, how to do it, step by step. It’s digital hand-holding at its finest. Back in the beginning of blogging when Erin was a bit of a tech spazz, we would BOTH have loved this site.
If you are competent, but want to be cool, you are ready for Cool Mom Tech. Seriously, Kristen and Liz are our go-to girls for all things tech-y fun. All the latest and greatest are compiled on their site. Your kids will be so impressed and your friends will start thinking you are the tech guru.
Finally, you want to stay committed to being on top of the ever-changing world of tech, so become acquainted with TechSavvyMama. From her fabulous tech gift guides to her great, thoughtful posts about digital parenting, like this one about 10 Things Families Should Discuss to Have Healthier Relationships with Devices, we pretty much love what she has to say about technology and kids. Things are changing all the time and she’ll keep you at the forefront of what is coming down the internet.
And speaking of the internet, we love these great websites too. Whether we are looking for reviews or resources, these websites always deliver.
Ok, full disclosure: Erin is a huge Star Wars fan, but this site would be awesome even if it wasn’t the brainchild of George Lucas. This clearinghouse for all things that are working in education is not just a treasure trove for teachers but parents as well. In terms of educating parents on how to navigate the confusing world of tech, the site is top notch. Check out its Digital Literacy Resources for Parents. You will be glad you did, and while you are here, poke around a little, TONS of great resources on all things related to education.
This is the MacDaddy of digital citizenship. From lesson plans for teachers to reviews of everything digital (LITERALLY!) (video games to movies to television), this site has it ALL. You can be confident that all the resources you find here have been compiled by smart people who are committed to keeping kids safe on the internet and giving parents useful tools for parenting in a digital age.
Every parent will say one of their chief concerns about having their kids interact on social media is their safety, and well it should be as the internet is a bit like the wild west. This site is great for allaying fears while also being incredibly honest and informative about exactly what your kid will face in each social media outlet.
Which brings us to the next important issue: Do you know where your kids are? Back in the day, this meant checking out street corners. Today, it means you should be looking at your browser history.
We are here to tell you that THESE sites are where your kids are online. Follow the guides. Educate yourself and make a plan with your kid about how your family will treat technology.
There are also some great digital workshops where you can explore exactly what it means to be leading a digital life. Your family will find great resources to launch a conversation about good citizenship online, the potential dangers of the internet, and even some of the benefits of social media interaction.
Finally, we are not espousing any particular way to treat technology in your family, but we want you to have all the information you need to parent through the thorny digital landscape. We respect that each family has its own needs and therefore will develop its own relationship with social media, so we will just say this: take your time. Thoughtful, reflective, informed, and available parenting is the very best kind in our opinion. Let kids know that you care and you want to keep them safe.
If you also want to set some limits, here are some ways to lock the internet down a little. Just remember: nothing is foolproof.
And if you really, really, really want to set some tight controls, here are some Internet Filtering Tools that for a nominal fee will keep your kids far away from anything you deem unnecessary for your family.
See? It’s all not-so-scary. Hope you enjoyed this five cent tour of social media. We hope these tips allay your fears and help you do the job we’re all trying to do well—parent in this new digital age.
Feel free to leave a question if there is a resource you are still looking for. We might be able to help you find it.
—Erin and Ellen
Check out the new parental control app to manage your child’s phone use that we love here!
Keep yourself connected even when your battery is dragging like a mom right before bedtime.
The kids are back to school, but there’s no rest for the weary! With the school year in full swing, there’s no slowing down. In fact, things can start getting pretty hectic with your work, your kids’ homework, after-school clubs, sports, music lessons, carpools, birthday parties, and play dates . . . the list goes on and on!
Even the most organized of Moms will tell you things can change at the last minute, and you, of all people, can’t afford to run out of power . . . we mean for your phone or tablet, of course!
And you’re in luck because myCharge knows how important it is for you to stay charged and connected all day–and all school year–long, so they’re giving the gift of portable power. You’ll never be left in the red again!
To keep you charged and connected myCharge is giving 3 lucky winners each an iPad mini with a myCharge HUB 6000 portable charger!
The amazingly compact Hub 6000 features built-in cables and connectors for smartphones, tablets, e-readers and more. Get up to 27 hours of additional talk time for your devices, as well as integrated, quick-charge wall prongs. The Hub series is commonly known as the “Swiss Army Knife of portable power devices.”
You NEED this in your life!
Additionally, 40 winners will each receive an Energy Shot compact portable charger for their smartphones that delivers an additional boost when you need it most. They come in a variety of styles and can give you up to 10 hours of talk time! (Please note, smart phone not included in giveaway).
So cute and functional!
So Moms, stay out of the red this school year! myCharge is here to keep you charged and connected! For more information on products visit the myCharge website or follow them on Facebook. You can find myCharge products at retailers such as Target and Kohl’s.
Giveaway is open from September 15, 2014 until October 15, 2014. Fill out the entry form below for your chance to be one of 40 winners to receive an Energy Shot Charger (10 winners randomly selected each week) and one of 3 grand prize winners randomly selected on October 15, 2014 to receive one iPad Mini with a myCharge HUB 6000 portable charger. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age or older, must live in the United States and have a valid shipping address. See giveaway form for complete list of rules and details.
Recently, we posted this on our Sisterhood Facebook page:
A mom created an app called “Ignore No More”. It is exactly what it sounds like. Your kid ignores your text? You lock down their phone until they respond. It generated a nice little conversation on our page with many “Heck yeahs” and “Perfects,” but we were unprepared for the reaction when we brought it up with our real live family.
Actually, we didn’t even bring it up with them directly. Our teen daughters overheard us talking about how the topic was pumping some life into our Facebook page.
They can’t hear us when we tell them to pick up their socks, but they heard us talking about this ten feet away as they were about to jump in the pool. In a word, the response was visceral.
Their heads snapped around and their outrage crackled the air at the mere mention of the words “phone” and “shutdown” in the same sentence.
It looked kinda like this:
This was all kinds of bizarro out of balance to us. At first glance, this app seemed well within the limits of parenting in a digital age. Because seriously, “Limits, boundaries, limits, boundaries,” is the modern media mom’s mantra, right?
After a double-take and a “Calm your giblets,” we threw this out there: “So what’s with the Mount Vesuvius of reactions? If you just answer your phones, this doesn’t affect you at all. No. Big. Deal.”
In all honesty, they were all so worked up in the beginning that they couldn’t really put a finger on exactly what the trigger was. Then after they calmed down a bit, their ideas started to take some shape:
“It would cut us off from everything.”
“It is such a violation.”
“But it’s just so wrong.”
But once again, “Kids, if you are copacetic with the mom-kid agreement to just answer our texts, it doesn’t really affect you. Like at all. Ever.”
That just stirred the outrage up to boiling again.
We took this moment to remind them about our overriding phone ground rule. “The phone belongs to us and you have it for our pleasure and convenience . . . like when we need you to take a video of us for a blog post. But seriously,we don’t mind you enjoying Instagram, but you only have the phone for safety purposes and so we can tell you who we found to pick you and your stinky cleats up from soccer.”
So we asked the question: “Why did you react SO viscerally? What is this really about?”
Again, there was a bit of an uproar, but as the emotional responses waned, their logical centers took over and they gave us this:
“It’s a violation of my privacy.”
“It feels like you’re being a control freak.”
“It’s all about trust.”
Oh.
Erin:And I started to see their point of view.The subtle messages we send to our kids are just as important as the overt lessons. With a second glance, we had to concede that they might be on to something.
Ellen: I have to admit when I posted about the app I thought, “This is a great idea,” and I wanted to see what our readers thought. Their responses were overwhelmingly favorable, just like mine.
Erin:But when I really thought about it, given our daughters’ reactions, this app really started to look like helicopter parenting in the extreme. The app’s point seemed to be, “I need you now. You will be available to me now. Oh, you’re not? Well, I can control that.” Yep. Looks a little like hovering in the extreme. Can you hear the thwack thwack of the rotors overhead?
Ellen: Now our kids were really calming down because they could see understanding dawning in our eyes. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I would never use this as anything other than a punishment. I set my expectations with my kids that their phone is for my convenience, but I also respect them enough to only text about the important things like, “You need to get in Mr. Brian’s car after band or you’ll have a long walk home.”
I’m not reminding them to turn in their papers or asking them to check in during their school day or bugging them to eat their sandwich before the cupcake. I am communicating, not helicoptering. Okay, sometimes I type out an “I love you,” or a “Good luck,” because a text is the teen version of a lunchbox note, but that is still not hovering and no response is required.
Erin:Our girls sprawled on the pool lounges with relief when we concluded this app would only be a tool for us to discipline a child without taking away the safety of having a phone.
Ellen: We all agreed, there would be many discussions and a hefty grounding going on before this app was installed.
So NOW what do YOU think?
Is this app a good idea or helicopter parenting at its worst?
Parents Guide to Youtube
