One day, when my daughter was in Kindergarten, she didn't come home on the bus as expected. I thought I was going to die from a panic attack while talking to my husband on my cell phone using my right ear and calling the school and bus company on our home phone using my left ear. Eventually we found out that she got on the bus that took a group of kids to the "big" elementary school for soccer. That day my daughter joined soccer and I started wondering how to keep track of an adventurous child.
Now that she's older, we have the routine down and she knows that we should talk about the plan for the day before she leaves for school, but sometimes plans change later or she just wants to check in and make sure she remembers the right thing if the plan is different than the routine. And this year my son, who is even more adventurous than his big sister, is starting school too. These are all reasons why I was really excited about Relay screenless phones... they can each check in with me (and talk to each other), and I can see where they are, so we all know that they are in the right place. And we're in compliance with our school's screen-free policy... goodbye mom guilt!
Setup is as simple as 1. Charge Relay, 2. Download app, 3. Connect the Relay and your phone following the directions in the app. We quickly discovered that we needed different SIM cards to get better cell service in our area, but their customer service is excellent and we had the new SIM cards as quickly as the USPS could deliver them. And contacting customer service is SO easy because you can do it IN THE APP... no hunting for contact info!
Relay is as easy to use as a walkie-talkie, but it's powered by 4G LTE, so it works just like any cell phone, which means we can talk to each other from anywhere that we can make a call. I love that Relay works through wifi too, so we can connect my daughter to the school wifi and she will still have a good connection inside the building. Missed messages get saved to replay later, so unless I have the app open because I'm expecting a Relay call, the messages from the Relay will be recorded and I'll get a push notification. That means the kids don't interrupt me (walkie-talkie style) without warning. However, if one of them needs to reach me urgently, they can send an SOS that makes my phone beep, similar to emergency alerts, and then I just press a button to resolve the alert.
My favorite feature though, of course, is the GPS tracking so I can check on where they are. And the geo-fencing feature allows me to set an alert if the kids enter or leave their assigned radius so I know they're on the move, even if I'm not actively checking their GPS location. My kids love the Joke of the Day channel (the channels work just like apps and have different functions like jokes and music). And I'm sure there will come a day when my favorite feature is the water resistance! Thankfully we haven't tested that yet! But Relay can survive a brief immersion like a splash in the sink, a drop in a puddle, or getting caught in the rain while the waterproof/dustproof membrane over the speaker holes protect the device. Whew! (Update: My daughter's Relay fell into the water fountain when she was getting a drink. After a quick pat dry, it was still working great!)
Relay, and the accessory kit that keeps kids from losing it, are must-have school supplies for kids on the go. With the easy-to-use screen-free communication and location tracking, Relay is the perfect way to send our children back to school safely so we can give them independence and give ourselves peace of mind.
Relay is just $49.99 for the device and $9.99/month for the service plan. Find it at Target in-store or online, Amazon, and RelayGo.com. From now through September 14, 2019, Relay is 40% off at Target.com and 40% off in-store from August 25 through September 14!
I received compensation for this article, but all opinions are my own.
