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.

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Family by Sygic - Review and Giveaway

Have you entered the phase of life where your children have phones? We crossed that milestone many months ago. I like the kids having phones so I can contact them at any time. Unfortunately sometimes they don't pick up, like a few weeks ago when my son didn't get off the bus. I called his phone, no answer. I called the school, they put me on hold. If I had a tracker on his phone I could have immediately located him. Instead of panic and worry, I would have realized he was around the corner. He was goofing off and didn't get off until two bus stops later.

So, now you can imagine my delight when I was selected as an ambassador for Family by Sygic. I finally got to have my peace of mind back!

• Family by Sygic is the family locator, children safety and emergency alerts app awarded by the largest parent-testing community Parent Tested Parent Approved.

•  Family by Sygic is Sygic's latest app for families and with a touch of a button you can see where every member of your family is in real time.

• You can even set up zones, safe zones and unsafe zones. If your child goes into an unsafe zone you will receive an alert.

 Right now for a limited time the app is free. They have an app for iPhone and for Android.

Enter to Win an Offline Sygic GPS Navigation app for iphone or Android 

On Android, the app will have over 111 maps  of Europe, America, Southeast Asia and Africa to choose from. An  $89.99 value!

On iPhone, the Sygic GPS Navigation app will have maps of North America  and  an additional app with maps of Europe a value of $79.99

a Rafflecopter giveaway

These are fantastic apps to have, especially when traveling to different parts of the world. I know this for a fact, because I've gotten lost in Barcelona, Rome, Scotland, Ireland, and pretty much everywhere else I've been! It's always best to have a gps when traveling.

This giveaway is open to Canada, US and Europe Readers.

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.