I'm an Adelaide mum of six.
Two of said kids, particularly the 10-year-old and the 7-year-old lately have been constantly asking for mobile phones. I knew this battle was coming, but I was cherishing every last day I could squeeze out of avoiding it, and not having it mentioned. Not yet.
But here we are.
There's been a few times lately where situations have occurred where I really needed to contact the kids and I haven’t been able to.
So worriedly, I did some research. I was super sceptical at first, fearing my kids would have free rein of the internet (terrifying). But after deep diving and a few recommendations from other parents, I decided to try out Spacetalk smartwatches – a device which you can call, message and locate your kids through.
Now I don't see how we could be without them. Let me explain.
Image: Supplied.
The other night I was running late to soccer practice.
We’ve all been there as parents. My stomach dropped as I looked down at my phone and realised I was already running ten minutes late, and my son Sylus would be left outside, wondering where I was.
I started fretting and trying to recall whose parents would be at practice or who could I call or message to make sure he was safe.
Then I remembered my 10-year-old wore his new Spacetalk Adventurer Smartwatch. We'd only had it for a few days, and I hadn't retrained my brain yet that I could actually contact him through it. Crazy concept for me to get my head around.
Using the Spacetalk app on my phone, I could he was exactly where he was meant to be, as he could send me a pin of his location on a map, and I could do the same from my end to him.
I sent Sylus a quick message on his watch (I KNOW RIGHT) with this map, and let him know exactly where I was able to meet him. Seconds later I received a message back from him, and he was safely at our pick-up location we use sometimes as back up, and his pin on the map could show me too.
You know that feeling where your stomach drops with a dreaded worry, a feeling that I seem to only get as a parent? This subsided immediately, and the mental sigh of relief and peace of mind was instant. It's invaluable to me and my partner (and any parent I'd bet).
Image: Supplied.
To know where my kids are. To know they are safe. It’s such an awesome feeling that my kids can have their independence, and my mental load can ease a little with the reassurance from these watches.
Now we have Spacetalk, I couldn’t go back.
I was really unsure at first whether this new system would fit in with our lifestyle. Plus what parent ever feels like their kids under 10 ever need more tech?
At first it felt like I was giving them too much responsibility. Now I couldn’t imagine them not having this direct line to me when I really need it.
The Spacetalk watches means that when I’m running late to school or practise, I am able to directly chat with the kids.
It gives me the reassurance I need to help manage the kids and juggle our fast-paced lifestyle as a family of eight. It makes everything so much more seamless.
The Spacetalk watches have a range of colours to choose from too, so the kids felt like the tech could suit their personalities. The Adventurer model’s bands are also interchangeable so my kids can sport the other colours if they wanted down the track.
The School Mode feature on the watches was also super important to my partner and I, to make sure the kids aren't distracted when wearing it at school.
Parents can control the watch features your kids can use, and when (which I do straight from my Spacetalk phone app that's synced to the watch). Knowing that while Sylus and Paige were safe at school in class, I could turn off the contact function while the watch still functioned regularly.
On my phone, I can then toggle when the kids can and can't take photos or send messages to me, depending on their school lunch breaks and outside of school hours. I honestly love this feature.
Image: Supplied.
As soon as 3:10pm hits on a weekday, we've got it set for the School Mode to toggle off automatically and Sylus can receive my message that I am a few minutes away from school pick-up, and to find his little sister.
The Spacetalk Adventurer has 4G capabilities and reliable service (can be with Telstra, Optus, Vodafone... any of them), and it hasn’t let us down. Not once.
You can control all of this through the app on your phone: reminders, alerts, Reward Stars, School Mode and plenty more.
Set up took two minutes, and changing settings takes a few clicks. I'm not a tech expert but I found it nice and easy.
You set up contacts too on a Safe Contact List, so the watch cancels any calls or texts from unknown numbers. The kids can only message or call with numbers you’ve pre-approved in the app. Another feature to love, so I can always be across who the kids are speaking to, and not worried about them going rogue or into unsafe territory.
For the watches to work for us and for me to feel comfortable and safe to give to the kids, they needed to be a safe family network and with no access to the internet, and have adjustable settings so I could approve messages and contacts.
Thankfully these watches ticked all my boxes, and I really couldn’t think of a safer way to communicate with my children when I’m not with them before life with a phone.
The Spacetalk Adventurer suits our eldest son well at 10 years old, because it also has a camera, and heart rate monitor (which he's really into... kids find the darndest hobbies) so it really suits his growing independence.
For our 7-year-old Paige, we got another model: the Spacetalk Kids. I can still call, text and locate her in case I need to tell her a change of plans, but we just felt that she didn’t need the camera and some of the other features that older kids might need or use. I’m glad there were plenty of options when matching the right watches for our needs for the kids.
Image: Supplied.
The Spacetalk Kids watch for Paige also has no open internet and no social media, but still has the features like School Mode which are incredibly useful for us.
She loves sending me "love you mum" messages throughout the day when she can. It's super cute.
Each watch is super unique to them: Sylus has his amazing blue watch with his own personalised background and is super proud of it.
Paige wanted the awesome pink one to suit her own flare. They're both very happy they each have their very own contact device personalised to them and their profile.
Each watch just needed a Prepaid SIM from Vodafone (my phone is with Vodafone, so we went with matching) for $10 each that you pop in the back of each watch, and from there you are up and running.
A couple of important things to mention, which lots of my parent friends asked me: it’s splash proof but don’t submerge in water deeper than a metre for over 30 minutes. The watches also charge with a USB charger on their bed stands overnight.
I got a little emotional popping my children’s numbers into my phone for the first time realising that they are taking yet another step towards independence. But it’s a step I feel they are both ready for and I’m so glad we took it.
So many new steps with the kids I’ve held off jumping into just yet, as I've wanted to keep them “little” for as long as possible.
But in managing the family, and keeping everyone on track with their activities, and managing transport and my lateness (sometimes), times really have changed. Staying in contact with my children for their safety and my peace of mind has been an absolute lifesaver to us.
To know where my kids are, to know that they are safe, it really is priceless.
Check out and shop Spacetalk Smartwatches online, or in-store at Vodafone, Officeworks and more.
Feature: Supplied.
