I'm short on time tonight -- or energy, rather. I'm short on energy. As I mentioned in my last post, S was out of town this week, so I was on double dad duty. S's parents are around, and they can handle the baby (S's mom does most the work, but her dad has actually been helping out too -- fixing bottles and whatnot), but Lil' S1 is a whole different story. He runs circles around them, and he won't let them help with anything, even if they are offering, if he knows I'm home. ("I want Daddy to put my shoes on... I want Daddy to brush my teeth... I want Daddy to get me milk... I want Daddy...") And to make even more work for me, it was his Spring Break, so we were out of our usual routine, and I had to drive him to gymnastic camp three days a week.* Oh... and also he decided that he's not going to take naps anymore, so I don't even get a break in the middle of the day on the weekends anymore. And he got into my bed with me and slept with every night (I was too tired to fight it), and he woke me up every morning at the crack of dawn. Needless to say I'm exhausted.
But I wanted to tell everybody about my awesome app idea: Park Blast. It's an app that sends you a message when other parents in your kid's social circle are going to the park. That's it. I was thinking about it the other day when I was taking Lil' S1 to the park. I like it when other kids he knows are there, but I don't like to set stuff up with other parents, because that requires planning and then it becomes an "event," and you become accountable if you skip out or are late or anything like that. Most the time I take Lil' S1 to the park it's somewhat spur-of -the-moment. I usually know that I'm going to take him, say, Sunday afternoon but that could be anytime from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, depending on everything else that happens to arise in our lives that day. I don't want to be pinned down to a time because I've made plans with other parents. Plus I don't know all the parents that well, and some of the ones I do know, I don't necessarily want to contact.
But with Park Blast, you get everybody on a list once, and that's all the "planning" you have to do. Then before you take your kid to the park, you shoot off a blast: "Lil' S1, Hamilton Park, 2:00 pm." That's it. And all the parents on the list see it, and they can meet you there if they want or not, whatever. This way your kid can see other kids he knows sometimes, but there's no obligation on the parents end. You aren't accountable for anything.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "Uh... We already have that: It's called texting!" But Park Blast would be better for a few reasons. For one thing, texts lists aren't really a thing, or if they are, I don't use them. In fact, one of the most annoying features of the iPhone is that there is no way to even save a text list without a special app (that I know of). For another thing, there's a social aspect of it, in that texting somebody seems more personal than Park Blast would be. I don't just text people I hardly know out of the blue to say I'm taking my kid to the park, but that would be the very purpose of Park Blast. It's more like a Facebook update than a text. Then there is the maintenance aspect of it. When people are scrolling through their texts they don't want to see a bunch of Park Blast garbage. It would get to be very spammy (same thing with email). So what Park Blast would do is show a message on your phone, but once you swipe it, it is gone for good, unless you actively open up a folder through the app. Everything is hidden from sight unless you go looking for it. Simple, clean, and effective.
Anyway, I think it's a good idea. I would program it, but first I would have to learn an app programming language, and then I would actually have to sit down and do it. And did I mention I don't have much time these days? I think my kids would be too old for me to take them to the park by the time I finished. But if you want to do it or know anybody who does, go ahead. The only thing I ask is $10,000 up front and 95% of whatever revenue it generates. That's all.
Until next time...
*I was late one day picking him up because I thought the pick-up time was 12:30, but it was actually noon. In my defense, I signed him up for a half day and a full day is from 8:30 to 4:30, so I was working under the (wrong) assumption that half actually meant half. They had S's number on file, not mine (despite the fact I specifically gave them my number at the beginning of the week and told them to use it if there was a problem), and they called her like eight times. When I got there the woman was kinda copping an attitude, but I defused it by admitting I was wrong and apologizing. I could tell she wanted to chastise me more, but there was really nothing else to say at that point, so she said, "Yeah, well, pick up time was noon, so... just so... yeah... just so you know." But I obviously already knew because we just went through it. I thought maybe they'd charge me extra but they didn't.
But I wanted to tell everybody about my awesome app idea: Park Blast. It's an app that sends you a message when other parents in your kid's social circle are going to the park. That's it. I was thinking about it the other day when I was taking Lil' S1 to the park. I like it when other kids he knows are there, but I don't like to set stuff up with other parents, because that requires planning and then it becomes an "event," and you become accountable if you skip out or are late or anything like that. Most the time I take Lil' S1 to the park it's somewhat spur-of -the-moment. I usually know that I'm going to take him, say, Sunday afternoon but that could be anytime from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, depending on everything else that happens to arise in our lives that day. I don't want to be pinned down to a time because I've made plans with other parents. Plus I don't know all the parents that well, and some of the ones I do know, I don't necessarily want to contact.
But with Park Blast, you get everybody on a list once, and that's all the "planning" you have to do. Then before you take your kid to the park, you shoot off a blast: "Lil' S1, Hamilton Park, 2:00 pm." That's it. And all the parents on the list see it, and they can meet you there if they want or not, whatever. This way your kid can see other kids he knows sometimes, but there's no obligation on the parents end. You aren't accountable for anything.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "Uh... We already have that: It's called texting!" But Park Blast would be better for a few reasons. For one thing, texts lists aren't really a thing, or if they are, I don't use them. In fact, one of the most annoying features of the iPhone is that there is no way to even save a text list without a special app (that I know of). For another thing, there's a social aspect of it, in that texting somebody seems more personal than Park Blast would be. I don't just text people I hardly know out of the blue to say I'm taking my kid to the park, but that would be the very purpose of Park Blast. It's more like a Facebook update than a text. Then there is the maintenance aspect of it. When people are scrolling through their texts they don't want to see a bunch of Park Blast garbage. It would get to be very spammy (same thing with email). So what Park Blast would do is show a message on your phone, but once you swipe it, it is gone for good, unless you actively open up a folder through the app. Everything is hidden from sight unless you go looking for it. Simple, clean, and effective.
Anyway, I think it's a good idea. I would program it, but first I would have to learn an app programming language, and then I would actually have to sit down and do it. And did I mention I don't have much time these days? I think my kids would be too old for me to take them to the park by the time I finished. But if you want to do it or know anybody who does, go ahead. The only thing I ask is $10,000 up front and 95% of whatever revenue it generates. That's all.
Until next time...
*I was late one day picking him up because I thought the pick-up time was 12:30, but it was actually noon. In my defense, I signed him up for a half day and a full day is from 8:30 to 4:30, so I was working under the (wrong) assumption that half actually meant half. They had S's number on file, not mine (despite the fact I specifically gave them my number at the beginning of the week and told them to use it if there was a problem), and they called her like eight times. When I got there the woman was kinda copping an attitude, but I defused it by admitting I was wrong and apologizing. I could tell she wanted to chastise me more, but there was really nothing else to say at that point, so she said, "Yeah, well, pick up time was noon, so... just so... yeah... just so you know." But I obviously already knew because we just went through it. I thought maybe they'd charge me extra but they didn't.
It'd be cool if Park Blast could just use your phone's location and either alert or simply list in the app what park you're in. Then, if you've got free time you could just open the app and see which friends are currently in which park.
ReplyDeleteBut then there would be lots of privacy concerns, probably. If you haven't seen the Silicon Valley episode where the Japanese intern comes up with a park app, definitely check it out for a good laugh. (Actually, every episode of that show offers up some good laughs!)
I haven't started watching Silicon Valley yet. It's on my "to watch" list. I've heard it's good and a trailer I saw for it was funny.
ReplyDelete