Me in a Tree Review Family App Management Interactive Tool Engages Parents and Kids

Technology

In this fast-paced digital world we all live in today, computers and high tech are a natural part of just about every modern child's upbringing. With all that technology is supposed to be doing to help us, though, it seems ironic that the family structure as we know it is still suffering a huge breakdown in family communication. As a mom of four kids -- Triplets plus one more born within a year -- now all teens, I know I've been experiencing that first hand for years now.

If you're a parent of children from toddlers on up, you are likely to be having similar frustrations these days. You might even be aware that there are plenty of apps out there already that are focused on helping us moms and dads manage our kids, busy family lives and homes. The problem is that up until now, there haven't been any apps or sites that get the whole family involved in an active way. 

Finally there's a new interactive online application called Me in a Tree that fills that void and does all the things on to go contemporary families need. Not only does it virtually deliver much of what those mom and dad parenting apps already do, it actually gets parents, other caregivers and children all interacting and talking with each other within a safe private community that your entire family can tap to reconnect and ultimately lead more fulfilling lives.

According to the site founders of MeinaTree.com, this interactive awareness tool is designed to increase the efficiency of communication within the household, family time, and options for activities. The goal is to realize a general overall stronger connection and bond between family members.

Me and my family squeeze in some together time on a ski trip

I've only been experimenting with this new online tool for families for a few weeks and am amazed by how easy it was to set up. It really does so much, too, my own family has only begun to harness the potential of this new site that finally helps kids and parents literally get on the same page. 

Once you sign up, you'll set up a family user name and password. There is also the option for each family member to set up their own user name and password within their family's account. I really like that this gives kids, whether they are preschoolers or in high school a sense of feeling as an important, contributing member of their family team.

Next, to personalize your clan's private intranet you are directed to a profile page where each member of your family gets to create their own avatar to represent them. Older kids that are tech savvy can choose to do this themselves while you can help the little ones to create their online persona that only your family will be able to see. 

However you do it, each of you will piece together your own original characters picking from a color palette, a variety of skin tones, facial features, hair and eye color. New avatar functions that will give you even more options for body type, scenes, and other extras are coming soon. These customized avatars you and your kids create will be used to represent you and interact with the app's built-in communication and organizational tools.

MeinaTree.com screen shot showing my family's avatar profile page

Here you see my family's profile home page which uses pretend names to protect their privacy. When you use this application at home you'll be able to enter your real first names or nicknames because this is a private page for your family only. Each of the avatars created for my family is different reflecting each of our physical attributes and personalities. Since all six of us in my family wear glasses, I just hope Me in a Tree will soon add eyeglasses to accessorize our avatars to make them even more realistic.

After the Avatars were all in place I updated the family calendar with some activities we have planned. Then, I responded to the prompt to start a family huddle which you can designate to last for 30 minutes, 45 minutes or an hour. I set our first huddle to last for a half an hour, but I really wish there was a 15 minute option that I could try, too, as we are all so busy these days and we might do these family online meetings even more often if there was a shorter time commitment involved.

My kids in a tree trunk on one of many family road trips

The huddles are where the fun and communication really begins as everyone in the family is interacting from their own device, laptop or desktop computer in your family-only club meetings in real time. A nice thing about this aspect is that you can designate anyone in the family to be the moderator of a given huddle so it encourages responsibility and helps develop leadership skills of everyone involved. 

It is here in your online family meetings that you'll all be able to discuss things that need to be hashed out as well as look at and talk about what's scheduled on the household calendar together. And, just think, unlike in an old fashioned face-to-face family pow wow in this format no one will be talking over each other and everyone is actually holding their own talking stick at the same time. I know I'm not going to miss all that verbal volleyball that goes on at our kitchen table when we sit down to meet with our kids.

There is also a Things to Do app within this interactive site which I think is very useful that I have only just begun to explore. In this area of Me in a Tree you'll find four options that I every family needs: Family Activities, Volunteering, Parent Date Night and Parenting and Kids Programs. With so much that this offers you will likely see me talking more about this in future MommyBlogExpert blogposts as I have the chance to use these various options more over time.

Watch this brand new YouTube that just went live today to learn more about how Me in a Tree gets the whole family on board.




In summary, what I like best is that Me in a Tree doesn't tell us moms and dads how to parent or force a particular parenting philosophy or style on us. That's a really good thing because no two families operate the same way and we all have unique needs and challenges. Instead, it offers resources, tools, strategies and activities that help parents and children build on their own strengths with the end goal being a family that is synchronized like a beautiful orchestral performance.

Image from Me in a Tree

Families are invited to try Me in a Tree for a free two week trial with no credit card number. After that you have the option of subscribing to service via an annual subscription that costs $5.99 per month. You can also connect with Me in a Tree on Twitter and Facebook, too.

Parent Bloggers Wanted
Me in a Tree is seeking mom and dad bloggers from across North America, including the U.S. and Canada to try and review the Me in a Tree tool and participate in their compensated blogger program.

FTC Disclosure: This is a compensated post. Additionally, I received an annual subscription to Me in a Tree to facilitate this review. Thoughts are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.