I’m going to follow my daughter on life360 when she goes to university

My daughter is a high school student and was recently accepted to her dream college. While we celebrate his enormous accomplishment and start to plan this exciting change, part of me is more than a little worried than my first child leaves the house.

Don’t get me wrong – I fully trust my daughter. She is the proverbial “good -natured” and has given us no reason to worry over the years. However, the world outside of its exemplary behavior and our well -intentioned parenting is always a dangerous place.

This is why my daughter will stay on the life of our family 360 counts for her first year and perhaps beyond. It is not negotiable.

I understand that my decision is controversial

For the uninitiated, Life360 is a location sharing application where you can follow the movements of your family member. I became aware of his existence when my children reach their adolescence; I have heard of other parents who use it. I decided to follow my children in high school, especially when they started driving – and I don’t intend to stop.

To be clear, I don’t track down my teenagers. I do not obsessively check the notifications when they arrive in a new location. I do not ask a million questions on their plans. I do not punish them if they travel a certain distance or if I go somewhere without telling myself.

Really, it’s just an intestinal verification – a way to help me worry if they are late or do not respond to SMS or phone calls. If I can at least see where they are, that their phone always has a battery and there are no dangerous driving alerts, then I know that they simply live their lives, and I can return to mine.

I don’t want to lose this peace of mind just because my daughter goes to university.

I mentioned my plan with other mothers of the college and some of them raised the eyebrows. I understand that for some people, it may seem a violation of privacy and, perhaps, a little a movement of a mother in a helicopter. For me, it is a practical use of a tool at my disposal which can help me sleep more easily when half my heart lives in a dormitory 150 miles away.

I am especially open to change my mind

Right now, my plan to follow my daughter in college is not negotiable.

But as an experienced mom, I know better than speaking in absolute. My list of “i neers” to which I returned over the years lasts about a mile long. When you raise children, there is no rules of rules and we must be ready to make adjustments.

After all, when my children started learning to drive, I couldn’t compensate them without me, and now they drive everywhere.

Perhaps several months of safe university life without incident will convince me that it is time to cut the digital cord. Maybe I will feel the need to have his location available for the rest of his college years. I keep the door open for one or the other possibility.

For the moment, my daughter agrees with my follow -up

Fortunately, my daughter does not ask to be deleted and does not seem disturbed.

In fact, it is known to check Me When I’m traveling without her or I’m just going to Sephora without inviting her. I consider that our relationship is quite healthy, and she knows that the application provides me with a mental breathing room, so she did not ask me to stop.

If she did it, we would have a conversation and I would hear it. But to follow it for at least the first months in college would be a requirement.

Finally, I am sure that it will become clear for the two of us that it is time to go from this phase, but for an immediate future, the application remains.