A Fantastic T-Mobile Giveaway!

Disney
63 Comments

Everyone’s talking about school starting and all of the excitement surrounding that.  But dude.  It’s still steaming hot here in our part of the world.  Summer is on my mind.  This was us just last night:

So when the nice folks at T-Mobile asked me to say a few words about summer safety I thought it was an excellent idea. The summer leads to a lot of safety concerns for me….water safety, heat management, sun, travel, it’s all difficult to keep up with.  Of course, mobile devices can’t keep you from getting a sunburn, but knowing they can help keep the kids safe in other ways does bring me peace of mind.

There are so many new ways to use a mobile device to keep your family safe during the summer.  It’s amazing to this old lady who grew up with phones that had cords and busy signals were expected (kids, a busy signal is what used to happen if you called someone and they were already on the phone talking to someone else).

Now they can locate your children.  I used this feature last month when Jacob went on a big boy bus to spend a week with his little law school friends.  I could actually follow his journey all the way there and back.  It made this Mommy’s concerned heart feel better.

There are apps that you can use to notify you when your children arrive at their destination.  Or you can link all of your mobile calendars together so you know where everyone is supposed to be at any time.  I need this one.  When we all sit down to go over our schedules for the week it would be wonderful to be able to have them all linked together so we can keep up with where everyone is supposed to be.

And now here’s something awesome….T-Mobile is letting me giveaway to one of you a new T-Mobile Springboard!

T-Mobile SpringBoard giveaway!

No, I’m not kidding.  It’s a tablet (worth $429!) and it’s really cool.  I’ve been reading about this device and I am so, so excited to be able to give one away!  It has a camera, 16 GB of internal memory, Google and Netflix built in, an eReader, a family organizer, wow….the list goes on and on.  It’s a nice size too.  It would be easy to carry around.

Here’s how you can enter this amazing giveaway.  You must follow T-Mobile on Twitter, Like T-Mobile on Facebook and leave a comment answering how you use a wireless device to keep your kids safe during the summer.  You can also Tweet about the giveaway and you get a separate entry for each one!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and stay safe!

This is a sponsored post but all opinions and crazy ideas are completely mine.

63 Comments

  1. My daughter volunteers at a local day camp and I made her exchange her cell phone with the rest of the councelors so if they get seperated on some of the trips she could call them or they could call her and reunite!

  2. I would say that having access to the internet with weather information helps keep the us all safe when we are out doing activities outside the home. Lately we’ve had lots of pop-up storms around here.

    1. Lori, how cool! I wish we’d have anything in the way of a storm. The dry weather is bed here. Lisa~

  3. I use my mobile device for checking the weather…to make sure to dress him appropriately and or wear sunscreen. Thanks for this great giveaway!

    1. Courtney, until you and Lori said it, I never used my phone to check weather. I’ve done it this morning now….thanks for the tip! Lisa~

  4. I use the AlertID app on my smartphone to identify potential “bad strangers” near our neighborhood and places we frequent like the park.

  5. Some of my kids are college students now and have been flying all over the world this summer. I love using the flight tracker app that shows me not only when they arrive at an airport, but it shows me where their plane is on a map. Think Indiana Jones’ movies where they showed the plane super-imposed over a map. 🙂

    1. Pennie, really? They show a little plan on a map like in the movies? How funny! LOL!

      You really needed that this summer. Isn’t it great that we can keep up with our far away kids? Lisa~

    2. Did you see the most recent Muppet Movie? They have this funny scene making fun of the whole airplane superimposed on the map – they call it traveling by map! Wish I could get in those tiny planes and travel by map!

  6. I also use my phone to check the weather. We’ve been having a lot of sudden storms here that include hail. 🙁 I also really like using my phone to take picture of all the fun we’ve been having this summer. 🙂

    1. You all are so clever about checking for weather! Melissa….I’m with you on the picture taking. Are you on Instagram? I’d love to follow you! Lisa~

      1. I think I am on instragram, but I hardly ever use it. I tend to take the pics, e-mail them to myself and then post them on my blog. 🙂 It’s dailyadventuresofahappymummy.blogspot.ca I run a dayhome so it’s a nice way for parents to keep up with what we’re doing, too.

  7. I sit outside with my iPad and watch my kids ride up and down the street on bikes. Without that entertainment I’d fall asleep in the insane heat. Haha!

    1. Randa, yes! The Netflix and Pinterest while sitting outside definitely helps me not think about the heat! Lisa~

  8. My family would love love love to own a T-Mobile Springboard! We are way behind with technology – we don’t have any mobile devices! Sometimes we feel like the last family in America without a ‘real’ cell phone – we have a very old basic pay as you go phone for emergencies. We don’t have wireless internet at home yet – it’s just not feasible since our computer is 10+ years old and would have to be replaced in order to make that work. A few weeks ago my Dad came to pick the children and I up and take us north for a visit – north as in Canada! We had a 12 hour drive to my parents home with lots of variables along the way. We ran into heavy rains, terrible traffic congestion and construction … of course. It was so helpful to have my Dad’s mobile device to check for alternate routes, check for more storms heading our way and look at the police reports to see delays due to accidents and road conditions. We were able to find alternate routes and keep in touch with my Mum so she wouldn’t worry – and the kids played games and looked at the internet when they got tired of sitting in the car looking at nothing because it was raining so heavily. I learned how to text which I had never done before – I got to text with my sister and nephew while on the road! That was so cool. I told my Dad that I never realized how helpful a small little piece of technology could be! My children have been looking at e-readers for a long time – while we’ll never give up our beloved books, they can really see the benefit of downloading multiply books for on the go reading!

    1. Heather, how funny that you haven’t played with all of the new gadgets. I am way too into them. Be careful….I’ll have you on Instagram if you don’t watch out. 🙂 Lisa~

  9. We use our cell phones to keep in touch when any of us are away from home. It gives me great peace of mind to know that my girls can contact me immediately if their plans change or they need anything. My 17 year old staffed at a camp this summer and the staffers there used their mobile devices to communicate across the camp. If there was an emergency, they could call for assistance immediately instead of waiting for someone to go find help.

    1. Laura, just last week 2 of my girls were gone for a couple of days and it was so comforting to me that they could call me any time. I love the way camps are using them too….that’s a great way to use them for summer safety! Lisa~

    1. Steve, I am learning a lot about safety not only for your family but also keeping your devices safe. There are so many new things to learn! Thanks for entering! Lisa~

  12. I have toddlers, so I really would only use my cell to call for help. God has blessed us thus far and we have never had to do that. If I had that springboard, I could use it and the apps on it to make our summer better!

    1. Jenni, I’m learning great ways to protect your mobile devices too! Like how to find them when they’ve been misplaced….technology is amazing!

      And yes, you would definitely enjoy the SpringBoard! Good luck. Lisa~

  13. Q: How do you use wireless devices to keep your kid(s) safe during the summer months?

    A: I too breathe easier and feel safer knowing that my daughter can call me on a cell phone if she is out and about on a playdate or with her grandparents. My dd (8) is thankfully very tech savvy and probably knows more about the phones than many adults. I also use the phone to check the weather. My daughter is a bit afraid of storms because of some bad storms we had last summer so she feels safer knowing what is happening weather wise.

    Thanks so much for doing this giveaway!

    ~Lyvonne

    1. Lyvonne, I know what you mean. My kids catch onto this stuff much better than I do. My Elijah used to be really afraid of storms and it would have been so nice to know when one was coming. Lisa~

    1. Becky, I definitely picked up a lot from you! But I say dude all of the time. I don’t know why. I think I’m just trying to look cool, but it’s not working. Lisa~

  16. We were traveling recently and our vehicle kept deciding that it was time for an upgrade. Upgrade to a new transmission, upgrade to a new alternator, upgrade to a new belt. It wants more upgrades, but we plan to push it over a cliff. Anyway, when we were stranded by our unfaithful vehicle in 107 degree heat with a wind blowing like a hot hair dryer and 18 miles from ANYTHING resembling evidence of humanity, I used my handy dandy smart phone to: call a wrecker, call several mechanic shops, find a hotel, find a rental car and find our exact location so that we could be found. It was comforting to have that kind of information and help in the palm of my hand!

    1. Dee Ann, I am SO glad you have your awesome smart phone! I used to wonder what you did with it, not being a techno girl, but what a blessing it turned out to be! Praise God for His provisions! Lisa~

  17. My three boys are grown and no longer at home but having mobile devices to stay in touch and to be able to warn about storm and tornado warnings is wonderful. Being able to check the forecast from your mobile device is a great safety feature.

    1. Debbie, isn’t it wonderful to be able to reach our grown kids at a moment’s notice? And those weather checks….I seem to be the last one in the world doing that! Thanks, Lisa~

  18. My daughters are older and driving… knowing that they can call me and I can call them at any time to check in is such a blessing. No matter how old they get, I will never stop worrying about them!!

    1. Oh Sally! That’s the best part of having mobile devices…when the kids start driving! I am so glad they can just text me and let me know where they are and now I know that I can locate them if I don’t hear from them. Whew! Lisa~

  20. I use my phone to keep the kids occupied . when they are old enough to have there own I will use the tracking apps

    1. Harmony, last month when we took a long trip, it was so nice to be able to let the little boys play games on my phone. It’s a lifesaver! Lisa~

  21. I’m an addict for checking the weather and heat index. With a 2 and 4 year old, I have to be careful about which times of days are best for all of us to be outside.

    1. Ellen, you all have me checking the weather all of the time now. Although so far it’s just been hot, hotter, hottest. 🙂

      That’s a great tip for watching the hottest part of the day! Little ones can get overheated so easily. Thanks! Lisa~

  22. I do check the weather app to see if we should even be trying to venture out in the heat and we borrowed a phone this summer for a weekend vacation with our kids (only the 15 yr old has a phone full time). This way they could contact us at any time to say “this program is boring”, “we’re ready for lunch” or “darling mother, you’ve given us undeserved pleasure and we can never thank you enough.”

    Currently, our family of 5 has only 3 phones (“only”, I say… how dumb is that…) and only 1 of those is “smart”. A tablet would be a nice addition to the family gadgetry.

  23. Couldn’t do without our cell phones – definitely use them to monitor weather situations! They also keep us all on track with schedules – our oldest has autism so there are always therapy appointments to manage and then coordinate those with other schedules. And some of the fun apps have averted more than one meltdown 🙂 We have been looking for a tablet to maximize the benefits!

    1. Sherri, I’m so thankful for my mobile device’s apps for keeping track of our schedules. I’m excited to learn more about ways to connect all of our schedules together now that several of them have their own phones and their own lives. (although I’m not happy about it) 😉 Lisa~

  24. It’s great to have an extra phone to leave with the kids to teach them how to use it for emergencies!

    1. Patricia, we have an extra too, for the kids to use. It’s been really helpful when we need it even thought they don’t need one of their own. Thanks! Lisa~

    1. Shaunie, I’m with you! We make poor Jacob call and text constantly while he’s away. It’s the price you pay for growing up without my permission. Lisa~

    1. Mariel, isn’t it great that we can do that now? When I was a kid my mom just had to hope she knew where I was or I’d have to find a payphone to call her and check in. Lisa~

  27. Mine are older and driving now, and working night shifts, so having a cell with them at all times in case of emergency keeps them both safer.

  28. When you can use the geo locators that will let you know where the kidlets are at all the time on your phone, it gives you a peace of mind. Being able to Skype and stuff when I am out of town also just lets me check in, see their faces and know that they are alive, lol.

  29. My son has aspergers. This would be great for one of his coping skills. I could be sure that I could keep him in control in public. It would help him so much.

  30. i use my ipad for netflix and my nephew use it and i know were he is and what he is watching

  32. I use my phone to check the weather to see if we can go to the pool safely and just keeping it on me in case of an emergency.

  33. So long as they’ve got a device with them to be able to check in, then I would be more content in letting them have more choices.

  34. During the summer I allow my 13 yo son to carry a cell phone when he is not with me, but I use the parental locks to keep him safe by preventing web access when he is not with me. I also use different apps to entertain and educate simultaneously when boredom strikes such as French language skills or anything that makes him practice Spelling!

  35. My kids are still young and pretty much always with me. They are 3 and 1. Great tips on these comments for when they get older – I am still on the fence on what age to give them mobile devices at. Now they use my phone for games every now and again – they are young but already so technology savvy!

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