When my children got the phones for the first time, we had open conversations about safety and we agreed to use site sharing applications such as Life360 and find my friends.
I expected some retreat because what a teenager wants to track their parents every step? But for my amazement, they were open to it.
Initially, tracking applications worked exactly as I expected. I can check if they arrived at school safely, and know when they need to capture them, and then, when they started driving, they confirmed that they had reached their destination without sending text messages constantly, “Did you get there right?”
It was a useful tool and a small way to relieve my fears while giving them independence.
After a short time, something unexpected happened. One afternoon, I was sitting in the Bandira booth when I got a text from my daughter: “Can you get a correlation file?”
I asked, “Why do you ask me that? You are at school.”
“I just feel like I am a Banira cookie,” she replied.
It was when he hit me. She knew exactly where you were. My daughter was tracking me.
It was strange to know that the tables had turned. The realization that my children can also follow me making me more aware of how to use the application. I know there are solutions where children can turn off or hide their location, but in general, the app has been good for me as an anxious mother. Apparently, it was good for them as well.
The application that I got on the peace of mind is now used to follow me
Soon I realized that all my children used to track the site – but not the way I originally meant.
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Initially, they tried to hide it with an informal offer, “Where are you?” Texts, but I knew better. I did the same when they got the phones for the first time, demonstrating that I had never seen their location before the question. I started getting texts while I was in the grocery store: “Can you eat some snacks?”
Soon it became a family joke. If I take a different way to the house, and stop seeing my parents, a quick text message will be sent, “Say, welcome to grandmother and grandfather!” If you stop unexpected at Walmart, my phone will explode with a list of the things they need. I am no longer signs of keeping it; She was.
The application has strengthened communication and view
More than just safety, the site’s sharing reshaped how to communicate. I offer my check if my husband and I am on a picnic before calling, and we don’t want to boycott. If my children see that I am working in the library, they send a text instead of calling. If they notice that my husband is on his way to the hospital with a patient at the back of an ambulance, they know that he is busy and cannot pick up.
What started as a tool to keep the tabs on my children has evolved into something more – a way for our family to stay in touch. It has become less than supervision and more comfort, consideration, and even humor.
Since my children, 16, 18 and 20, have become older, we have talked about the role of tracking applications in our family. Although the transformation of those who follow, they still agree to keep it.
There is something comfortable knowing that my children examine me as much as I am checking. It is a reminder that regardless of the amount of independence they acquire, the family is still at the heart of their daily lives.
In the end, it is not about controlling. It comes to knowing that we are all well, regardless of where we are.
