Skype : Am I the Last One to the Party?
Hi, my name is Lori, and I hate to talk on the phone. I seriously hate it. Add in video, and I doubly hate it! Okay, but there’s this thing called Skype that allows you to talk to people all over the world for FREE using your computer! We have grandparents in distant places; my daughter has a preschool friend who has moved to Seoul; I have a sister that lives across the country and a SIL that does, too. These are all good reasons to let my children use Skype to communicate with far-away family and friends.
But then…I start thinking about the security risks. My kids are still several years away from using the Internet without help, but Internet safety is still a concern. So, what’s a mama to do? Google herself silly, of course!
Since I was brand new to this whole idea, I started out with the main Skype web site. It is very well organized and easy to use. The installation was a breeze. I also found a great page that lists price information. When the safety concerns got the better of me, I Googled myself silly again and found a web site about a product that works with Skype and provides parental controls.
So, what have I done with all this newfound knowledge? Nothing. Yet. We ran into a few scheduling conflicts with talking to my daughter’s friend in Seoul, and between those and our travel plans this summer, it just hasn’t happened yet. I am visiting my sister later this week, and I hope to be able to call my family from NY using Skype – that way, I can see AND hear my sweet kids while I am away from them. Since my husband will be traveling out of the country for work for an extended period of time as well, I also plan for us to use Skype to keep in touch with him while he is away.
All in all, I anticipate that Skype will be a great way for us to keep up with far-away family in a more personal way and for FREE! I can’t beat free!
How about you? Do you use Skype? Do your kids? If so, tell us all about it!
September 6th, 2010 at 8:19 am
I think we are last to the party. We are going to Rome later this month and finally have a reason to Skype, so I am in the learning boat as well.
September 6th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I love Skype and use it daily. I learned about it in February and have been hooked ever since. My kids love talking to my friends kids all over the country. They think they are da bomb!
September 15th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
We use Google Video Chat. It has been working out well so far. We chat weekly with my mother and father. My Mother and Father-in-law hates it and refuse to use it. They are missing out on their grandson growing up. My parents are not.