If you’re looking for a family organization app, KidsLink might meet your needs. Let me explain how it helped my family.
A few ago, my son fell off the wagon.
Well, he fell off a wagon. Not the wagon but that wasn’t the most interesting part of the story.
He fell off a wagon and complained in his overly dramatic way that his arm hurt. He was screaming, crying, and begging to be put out of his misery (I told you he was dramatic). But when the crying didn’t stop, I thought a visit to the local urgent care might be in order.
An x-ray was inconclusive but they sent him home in a temporary splint and sling.
He posed for the camera and that was the end of that. Until the car ride home.
He said, “Mommy, please don’t post that picture online.”
Uh-oh. I had already sent it to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Because as any social media mom knows, when your child is in crisis, that’s when you want your community to rally around you.
What? I said. Why not? This is exactly the kind of thing to post on Facebook!
Turns out that at the ripe old age of 7 years old, my kid cares about his privacy. He’s normally one to shun attention from anything out of the ordinary so he simply didn’t want there to be a big deal made over the fact that his arm was in a sling.
Unfortunately, that sling wasn’t enough and he needed a full arm cast for two weeks to allow a hairline fracture to heal. Again, I was allowed to take pictures but I wasn’t allowed to post them.
Sometime that weekend, we all went shopping and while I was busy searching for the latest deals to be had at the Banana Republic Factory Store, my husband and son were off trying to amuse themselves. And that’s when Sean took and posted this picture…
Oh, I know. He’s adorable. You don’t have to tell me. But look at what is prominently displayed on his right arm.
A CAST!
Apparently, he was fine with it if the picture was for something else. He just didn’t want to focus to be on his broken arm.
(By the way, he’s totally fine with these pictures being posted now that the whole cast business is behind him.)
But the whole experience made me realize that I can’t assume that I can put my child’s life on display. In fact, I don’t. But I’m having to think more about what to share online and what to share only with close friends and family. After all, I’m creating his digital footprint now.
Last month when I was attending a conference in Atlanta, I was introduced to the people behind the app KidsLink, the private social network and world-managing app for moms (oh yes, we’re taking over the world!).
Here’s where you say:
Um, no thanks. I already have enough to manage and I don’t need another social network.
But I’m here to tell you why this is different and how it can make your life EASIER.
What makes the KidsLink app valuable
Feature #1 – Storyboards
- Think of this like a Facebook timeline organized by child: Jimmy’s soccer practice, Katie’s dance recital, Vivian’s visit to urgent care
- You decide the privacy of each post: share with your friends and family on KidsLink or only with your spouse
- Want a bigger audience? Share it to Facebook and Instagram (coming soon)
- It’s like an online scrapbook!
Feature #2 – Profile
- For each child, create a profile as a central place to track allergies, doctor’s contact information, bedtimes, etc.
- Easily accessible to mom and dad when they log in
- Can be shared via email for babysitters, for example
Feature #3 – Vault
- Use it as a digital filing cabinet for everything, all PRE-organized by child and type
- Keep digital copies of health insurance cards, birth certificates, driver’s licenses, artwork, receipts, immunization records by simply taking a picture
- Easily accessible to mom and dad when they log in
- Can be shared via email for summer camp registration, doctor’s office, etc.
This past summer, I enrolled Evan in a tae kwon do summer camp and we almost missed it because I had to get his immunization record! That meant a phone call to the doctor’s office, an email copy sent to me that I then printed out and drove to the camp. With KidsLink, I could have simply emailed the stored immunzation record.
Just this past week, I was at a friend’s house while she and her husband were talking about producing their child’s proper ID card for his sports team and who had it and who was going to take it and when it was needed and JUST STOP IT ALREADY!
I only have one child and I can’t keep it together! And if you have pets, you can totally use it for them too.
And if you didn’t have time to read all that, here’s how KidsLink themselves simplify it,
Explain KidsLink to me in once sentence. I’m busy.
KidsLink is like Facebook + LinkedIn + Dropbox, for moms to manage their kids’ world. You’re welcome!
