Why I Gave My Tween a Cell Phone

“Disclosure: As a Brand Ambassador with PTPA and Sygic, I received compensation for my participation. However, all opinions expressed on this blog are my very own.”

How I Knew It Was Time to Get My Tween a Cell Phone

I put off getting any of my kids cell phones for a long, long time. By the time my son was in 5th grade he was one of the only kids that didn't have a cell phone. He wanted one badly, but I just saw no reason why a ten year old needed a cell phone. Then he started Jr. high and he was literally the only kid without a cell phone, but I stood my ground. Why would an 11 year old need a cell phone?

He won the highest award his school gives out. 4.0 gpa plus he exceeded the state math and reading tests via mommytravels

And then it happened.

My husband had been deployed for about two months and I was back here taking care of our three kids. Things were a little crazy during this time. All three kids were on different school schedules, two of them were in gymnastics, one was playing football, and well........ I was over loaded, like most military spouses are during deployments.

I forgot to pick him up from school.

That's right I completely forgot him. I can't remember why he hadn't taken the bus home that day, but he didn't and I was suppose to pick him up. He was waiting with some other kids waiting to be picked up. Thankfully the next to last kid let him use his cell phone to call me. I raced to the school and there he was alone in the dark and the rain and he's only eleven!

I felt absolutely terrible and I realized, he needed a cell phone.

I have to admit getting him a cell phone has been great, but I found out the hard way that we would benefit even more with a tracking app. You may recall I kind of, sort of, basically lost track of him again, and just about lost my mind in the process.

In comes the FREE Family By Sygic an app that lets you share location with your kids and family using the one thing we always carry around – the Smartphone. It keeps you all in touch, lets you see where everybody is in real-time and gives you peace of mind.

Family By Sygic app has made it even easier for our family to stay in touch. Here is a screen shot of Family By Sygic to show you why I love it so much. It's so simple for the kids to use and it teaches them to be responsible and take the extra step to let me know where they are.

Green Check in - button sends a notification with your location to all family members

The red Alert button will notify them that you are in trouble. Alerts include your exact location.

Yellow Messages button sends free messages to all family members. (I'm to cheap to pay for unlimited messaging, so this is a huge bonus!)

Family by Sygic was awarded by the largest parent-testing community Parent Tested Parent Approved.

Related articles

• Keeping Kids Safe in Today's World with Family by Sygic and $100 Amazon GC Giveaway (mommytravels.net)
• 5 Father's Day Gift Ideas

Pinterest Tips for Bloggers

Tips for Bloggers on how to use and utilize Pinterest.

Pinterest Profile Tips

• Connect you profile to Facebook and Twitter
• Make sure your profile picture is of you, not something random. It is ok to use your brand logo/pict if that is easily recognizable.
• In your profile description, include keywords to describe yourself:

Travel blogger

Writer

Stylish Crafts

DIY Projects

Recipes

IF you connect your account to twitter, then your twitter description will show up as your profile description and you will need to go in and change it.

Pinterest Boards Tips

• Utilize keywords in the title of the board. For example Travel with Kids, Travel Tips, Family Travel, Recipes, Crockpot Recipes, etc.

• Make sure you’ve selected the most fitting category for all of your boards.

• Add a description to each board. This is the best place to add hashtags. For example #travel #Disney #recipe #dessert

• Make sure the cover photo for each of your boards is the best picture out of all the pins on the board.

• Create a board just for your blog.

Tips for Pins

• It is better to pin vertical photos then horizontal.

• Do not pin tons at once. Instead pin for five minutes here and there throughout the day.

• Add a clear to the point description to every pin. Include hashtags.

• The best times to pin are 2-4 PM EST and 8-1 AM EST

• If you want to repin your pin to multiple boards do it over the course of a week. You do not want to spam someone else’s feed.

Gain Pinterest Followers

• Join PinWoot a site that helps you gain followers.

• Create a collaborative board or join one relevant to your blog. Try to join one that’s relevant and has a massive following.
• Tweet your pins occasionally, once a day is fine.                                                       

• Share on Facebook based on your friends. This works great for a few, but not for the majority.

• Comment on others pins. Others that repin it will see your comment and hopefully will follow you.

• Join Repinly and occasionally pin one of the most popular pins to attract more views on your board.

• You can buy Pinterest followers through Public Monkey.

Pinterest for Your Blog

• Add a Pin It button to all of your posts. The best place for it is with your other social media buttons.

• Verify your website on Pinterest. This option is found under settings.

• If you have an article people would love make sure it has a pinable graphic! Go back and add photos if you need to.

• If you have a post that needs a pin friendly graphic you can make one at one of these sites.

             http://Infogr.am

http://www.Easel.ly

http://Visual.ly

http://Piktochart.com (This one has a monthly fee.)

PicMonkey

To see what has been pinned from your website go to 

http://www.pinterest.com/source/insertnameofyourblog.com, do not include the http or www.

When you find what has been pinned from your site be sure to

 1) Like or comment on the pin to increase the ranking of the pin and expand it’s reach

 2) Repin the most interesting and unique images.

 3) Follow those who pinned your pages. This may encourage them to return to your site.

• Add a Pinterest widget to the sidebar of your blog. This widget will show your most 30 most recent pins and direct your readers straight to your Pinterest account.  It’s easy to set up from this Pinterest link. http://business.pinterest.com/widget-builder/#do_pin_it_button Choose Profile Widget.

Please leave any questions you have below and I will answer them.