How Comcast Xfinity Products Make the Conversation Around Technology Easier
We’re a Bluey house around here. Are you? Seriously every single member of this household is in love with that family. Finding a show loved by everyone from 40 to 4 is an impossible feat. It’s just Bluey, through and through.
Bluey is actually the perfect show to love because the episodes are so short so you can tell the kids they can watch FIVE Bluey Eps and they think you’re almost as amazing of a mom as Chili. Almost. #momgoals But also, you can use it as an easy reward like I just did this morning. Keeping my kids motivated to follow through on their morning routine has been a chore lately. Tired of being the nag, I told my kids if they could get completely ready to walk out the door with 7 minutes to spare then I would let them watch one episode. Magic. They even pulled out the broom to sweep. Bluey for President. AND they didn’t whine when I told them only one because they felt like this was SUCH a treat.
Wouldn’t it be great if it was always this magical? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every show my children watched was as wholesome as Bluey, if they always maintained healthy screen time habits, if every day felt as jolly and safe as, well, as the world where Bluey and Bingo live?
The thing is, it’s not and we all know this. So what are we to do?
Thankfully there are technology companies here to help.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a conversation with knowledgeable people from Comcast Xfinity as organized by Twin Cities Mom Collective about these same struggles. Parents at various stages of parenting sat around a circle and shared their feelings about technology in the home, what we love, what we don’t, and where we wish we could get help. I heard from a mother of children with autism who wanted to keep her children safe in her home. A mom with teenagers told us how she was balancing the push and pull of releasing responsibility, both in the world and online. Another mom with a two year old didn’t know what to expect, she just wanted to be prepared when she needed to be.
We all had different rules for how we manage technology in the home but the one constant remained–we are all still learning but ultimately want to make smart decisions to help our whole family.
Participating in the conversation were team members from Comcast. Perhaps you are asking yourself the same question I did before arriving: so how can a media, tech and entertainment company help protect me and my family? The answer is pretty simple–by listening.
While we discussed, team members from Comcast listened. In fact, they have been listening to these conversations for years. Comcast developers heard a constant refrain from parents that we want safety and we want ease. They developed Comcast Xfinity Products for that very reason.
Comcast Xfinity Products cover a range of support. There is Xfinity X1 and Flex for video, Xfinity internet, even Xfinity mobile phone service. A feature I was unfamiliar with until that morning was the Xfinity Home security system with camera systems that work for home safety, chimes that alert you around the house and on your phone, even indoor cameras that you can use the way you might a baby monitor. I can see a world where we start adding Comcast Xfinity Products to baby registries! Demonstrators gave us a tour that morning of the system set up in the home and I was especially surprised at how seamlessly the system fit in to the rest of the home.
Another feature I found most helpful for parents like myself was learning about the apps Comcast Xfinity designed to help parents manage technology usage in the home. Their goal is to aggregate all the technology services you use in your home to one easy to use App. Comcast estimates by the end of 2023 every home will have at least 50 devices connected to the internet. Can you imagine balancing all of that? Thankfully Comcast Xfinitiy offers a digital dashboard app that can be downloaded on your phone or table designed to keep track, so you don’t have to. You can set up screen time rules, set online boundaries, pause or turn off WiFi at different times of day depending on needs. With everything else we have to monitor in our lives, what a relief to have a system in place to help manage this process for us.
What I loved most about this system was that the monitoring allows not for a top down parental control system but more of an accountability system. In our family we are trying to have conversations about internet usage and safety as something we ALL need to learn and understand. Technology is new to all of us, from kids to adults. We are going to get things wrong. But having systems in place that help us monitor and learn from our usage makes this conversation easier.
I’m so glad we have companies like Comcast that understand the importance of learning and growing. They are making changes everyday to their processors based on the feedback from customers. Technology is still new and ever changing. The smart thing to do is change along with it. Comcast Xfinity Products are doing just that.
As we left the conversation with Twin Cities Mom Collective and Comcast that day, I got to thinking about one of my most favorite Bluey episodes (I’m crying just thinking about it!) It’s called “Baby Race” and it’s the one where Bluey’s mom Chili is remembering how she struggled with how to help Bluey learn to walk, wondering if she was even doing anything right as a mother. Her friend, a mom of eight or maybe nine, she can’t remember, puts her hand on Chili’s and says “you’re doing great.”
Isn’t that what we want to hear? This balance of technology and kids stuff is hard. And you know what? We’re doing great. Especially with a little help from companies like Comcast.
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This was a paid sponsored post but all opinions are my own.