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This is a post by author David Hall. All opinions expressed are his own, and not my own.
Summer vacations are right around the corner and just a couple of weeks more to go and then your children would get off from the schools. It’s that time of the year we parents dread! The never-ending sibling fights, sleeping late and getting up well after the noon, binge eating and that constant complaint of getting bored – gear up, parents because you’re about to get your hands pretty full!
My advice: either enroll them into some classes- baking, crafts, swimming, summer camp, or get ready to face the music! Or better still; let them go and explore the world! If you’re thinking I’m being a little too adventurous and not foreseeing the risks involved, be assured that I’m a parent myself and have two teens up my sleeve, too.
I would rather encourage all other parents to let their children explore a new place this summer holiday. They could go anywhere -the place doesn’t matter. The important thing is to let them take care of themselves and survive in totally strange place! This will teach them things that you can’t in a lifetime!
Tip1: Do the math and geography
So, let’s assume that you’ve allowed your teens to go out on their field trip, educational tour or whatever and everything’s decided. Now, sit with your teens and do the math: calculate the costs, estimate the expenses and decide on a bare minimum daily allowance. Then do the geography. Google all the places they’d want to visit, a comfy hotel, nearby hospital, shopping malls, train circuit and adjoining suburbs. Your teens and you will get a good idea what they’re going to do there and it will improve their geography (it’s much better than knowing that K-2 is the 2nd highest mountain in the world!)
Tip2: Ensure their safety
Now that’s tricky and the most crucial part! You can’t just let them go without making it absolutely sure that you can keep in constant touch and monitor them! I am that kind of a person who’d ask Siri to book me cinema tickets. I enjoy tech and I rely heavily on it, too. Therefore, I’ve bought myself this parental monitoring app, FamilyTime, 6 weeks ago. I am getting used to its feature and seeing how it works. I’ve installed it on my children’s iPhones and I must admit it’s pretty fascinating. Here’s a screenshot of the dashboard:
So, this way, I can see and manage my children from a single dashboard. I can toggle on/off parental controls and alerts for each child separately.
How can it help keeping kids safe? This app lets me view their location history so as my girl leaves, I can keep tabs on her whereabouts each day, several times! I will know when she left for the breakfast, which historical sight she visited and which mall she shopped from. And worse come worse, she can reach out to me with a single tap in case of emergency. She can send me panic alert and I will get her complete location info.
She can even send me PickMeUp alerts as she lands and I will know it’s time to pick her up from the airport! It’s fun when you’re constantly in touch with your children – not because you don’t trust them, but because you want to keep them safe!
Tip3: Book everything yourself
Now that you’re done with the homework and security arrangements, arrange the trip itself. Book the flight, bus or train tickets yourself with your children sitting with you. Book the hotel and see if you can pre-pay for long commutes, too. This will keep you in the driving seat and let your child know that you’re fully involved in their trip. Nothing’s better than strengthening that bond between you two!
Tip4: Help them pack smartly
They say, ‘Always travel light’. It’s true. Don’t let them pack their favorite teddy along (It’s time they started sleeping without these childish dependencies). And let them take the very essentials. This will teach them to sort out things in real life and decide what’s important and what the opportunity-cost is. When they’d have to wash their own underwear, would they really grow up!
Tip5: Make checklists
Starting from the packing to the last minute-call of nature: make extensive checklists. This will teach your kids to pay attention to the details and anticipate as much as they can before any event! Trust me, it’s fun and very, very helpful!
So what do you think now? Traveling is not that bad an idea for your teens. Trust me and take my advice and let your teens explore the world a little this summers. And for your parental anxieties, there are apps like FamilyTime.
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