Hi, I'm Krista and I am a mother to one human child and one fur baby. Meet Evan and Momma Oatmeal:
In a world of Snapchat maps and ever-changing technology, I wondered what it would be like if I put an actual tracking device on my kiddos. Jiobit is a GPS tracker that shows its location in real time – even if you're in another state.
I don't consider myself an overprotective parent at all, but I did think something like this could give me peace of mind 24/7 about where my son and pup are.
The tracker connects to the Jiobit app on your phone.
The setup process was super simple and I had it hooked up in a matter of minutes.
I set up our "home" and right away it showed that the device was in a trusted location. I also set up my son's school as a trusted location.
The Jiobit allows you to set up trusted locations to help conserve battery life, as well as alerts that ping you when your kid is leaving school or arriving at home – things like that. You can customize what alerts you want to receive on your phone.
My son was taking skiing lessons (yes, you can ski in some areas of California) at Big Bear Lake last month, so I thought it was the perfect time to track him since I would be dropping him off alone for the entire day.
Since he was going to be wearing layers, I put it on the zipper of his half-zip sweater. Then, once he put on his coat, you couldn't even tell he was wearing it.
One thing I was concerned about was whether or not it would stay on my active 9 year old for an entire day. But, there are several ways to securely attach the device.
After dropping him off, I was able to track his location on my phone. Throughout the day I could see him moving in areas nearby since it updates in real time. It honestly gave me a sense of peace knowing he was safe when I periodically checked it.
We then tried it out on our pup, of course. Something like this could be an option for pet owners who want peace of mind when they are at work, when their dog is at daycare, or when they are out of town and someone is petsitting.
The device was still under Evan's name, but when my husband and son took Momma Oatmeal on a cruise around town, I could see her location from my home.
The battery on this device lasted about a full week without being charged, so it likely needs to be charged on its charging dock once a week.
Oh, and to test the claim that it would work in another state, I had my mom who lives in Kansas download the app. (You can give trusted caregivers access to your kid’s location if they have the app.) True to their word, my mom could see his location – which impressed her – but she was disappointed she couldn’t ACTUALLY see him.
Classic mom.
