10 Ways Google Maps Has Made me a Better Parent

Google Maps is not just a pretty face. It’s actually a useful piece of technology I’ve learned I cannot live without if I’m expected to be a good mother. See, I have this small issue with control. I like to have it. I like to be the controller of the situations. You’d think, after four kids, I’d let go a little and learn to be more of a go-with-the-flow type, but it’s just not in my genetic makeup. I need to have control. I’m a control freak. I like to have the situation planned and prepped, and I like to have a backup plan and a backup backup plan and I like to be prepared for every single possible situation and scenario. It’s a sickness and an illness and I’m ashamed of myself. But on a good note, Google Maps has really done great things for me. It makes control so much simpler, I’m a lot less frustrated and we tend to be happier as a whole thanks to this amazing little app. How? Let me just explain how Google Maps has made me a better parent.

It’s Better than OnStar

I like Google Maps and I like OnStar. But sometimes OnStar can’t help me. Like when I’m not in the car and they’re not telling me where to go. That’s when Google Maps comes in handy. I can be standing on a street and get directions anywhere. This means we don’t get lost, I don’t become frustrated and my kids are spared ‘crazy’ mommy.

The Ability to Plan Bike Routes

My kids love to ride their bikes, but we like to know where there are safe places to do it. The worst thing ever is to find a bike route that ends abruptly without anymore sidewalks. I don’t want my kids on the road – ever. And that’s just how I’m a safer mom thanks to this app.

I can See Where I Am

“You are here” might sound like a red dot for dummies. And perhaps it is. But this dummy needs that red dot to tell me where I am. I’m not good with maps and directions. Up is north; if that tells you how bad I really am with direction. Again; this makes me less stressed and much happier. All together this equals good mommy.

I can Find Places Easily

When I can see where I am and I can enter “place I want to go” near my current location, things are much better for all involved. For example, when my  kids want to go somewhere fun and have a good time, I can make that happen. That makes me a winning mom.

I can have Texts of Directions sent to Me

Seeing as how I need to refer to my instructions 70 or 80 times when I’m looking for where to go, this is a very helpful solution. It also enables me to hand my phone to my oldest daughter so she can read directions to me. This entertains her, helps her reading skills and her directionality and it makes me a safe driver. This might make me the best mom ever if you want to do the math and add it all up.

I can Look up Time Zones Anywhere

My kids have a weird obsession with time. Ever since my oldest learned to tell time a few years ago, she’s been obsessed with it (why has this phase not gone away yet?). She loves to know what time it is here, there and everywhere. She’s like a walking clock. And with Google Maps, I can honestly tell her that I know what time it is somewhere. I’m pretty limited to North America off the top of my head, so this app makes her think I’m smart. Really smart. That’s a parenting win.

I can Track a Flight

Nothing excites my littles as much as someone they love coming to visit them. That’s why we love this app. It lets us input flight information for our loved ones so they can see where the plane is, how close it is and what their loved ones might be looking at. We also let them use this app with their grandparents anytime my husband and I go anywhere without them so that they can they can see where we are. It makes them feel closer to us, and we like that.

I can Check Walkability

When our kids want to go somewhere when we are traveling, we can check the walkability of where we are. This lets us know which direction to walk to find good things for kids, fun, food, drink or whatever. This makes me a cool mom because I always find the ‘coolest’ places when we travel. They have no idea it’s an app telling me where to go. They just think I’m so smart that I know where all the fun is. I mean, I do know where all the fun is. At least I think I do. Whatever. My kids still think I’m cool, so that’s where the fun is.

I can Find Things

When I can find what I’m looking for, I’m more relaxed. I can find parks. I can find toy stores. I can find entertainment. I can find all the things that make my little people happy, that make me happy and that allow me to do things like find that one annoying toy my kids can’t live without at Christmas when we’re out of town shopping and everyone is sold out. They don’t know it, but this app has saved their holidays more than once.

I can Find Food

Are you a parent? If you are, you know that hunger is not something that gradually happens with kids. My kids are either not hungry at all or they are starving and will probably die in the next 20 seconds if we do not feed them. There is no in between (also, they’re divas). So it helps to have Google Maps present to find the nearest McDonalds so that my starving children can ignore their chicken nuggets and yogurt to play with their new toy.

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