Parenting and Smart Phones V

Picking up from last month, we are looking at positive ways parents can use smart phones in relation to their parenting. We did three last month so pick it up with number 4.

4 – Share updates with a non-present parent. Often times one parent may be working or otherwise engaged while the other is spending time with the kids. During these times there will frequently be activities or happenings that would be of interest to both parents. Smart phones make the sharing of such experiences very easy with the ability to send texts, and attach pictures and videos, and that sharing can be in almost real time.

5 – Getting automatic reminders. There are a lot of places where information about events and so on is stored these days and it is possible to get reminders about things on a mostly automatic basis. Schools, teams, groups, and other organizations that might have impact on our kids may have a Facebook page or other location where information about events is posted. It is possible to set your Facebook page to automatically remind you about notifications from that page so that when an event is scheduled that information gets “pushed” to you. If you use a google based phone and apps it is also possible to set up google to automatically remind you of events that are in your email, even if you haven’t entered them in your calendar. It can be a bit creepy to realize how much google really knows about you, but if you are using your smart phone that much it is probably better you know than don’t know.

6 – Organize play dates. Your smart phone gives you a ready way to exchange all the contact information you need when you run into a new parent and you want to plan future times for your kids to get together. It then provides you with the mechanism for maintaining contact and creating the conversation that can make the get together happen.