If I thought it took a long time to setup my own phone I didn’t realize it was going to take nearly as long to setup my wife’s phone. And not for lack of trying…

First I had to find the right time. Which meant we both need to be in the same place at the same time, when she isn’t using her phone, and I remember that I need to set it up. This last one is really a tough one…

When I finally got around to do it, I couldn’t install the app on her phone because her memory was full. So first she had to download some of the movies and pictures she had on it (good for backup anyway…). 

A few more days went by and then we have it! We both have the app with our little girl’s sensory program on it. Now we have no excuses for not doing the activities. Well almost no excuses… You see, a few days after we got set up I noticed I wasn’t getting any alarms for reminders when it’s time for activities. And I do know these reminders work after spending a zillion hours checking them…. Apparently I forgot that a few weeks ago I turned off all notifications on my phone. It was after a long day and another text message just beeped, followed by a what’s app message and an email. So I just grabbed the phone, straight into phone’s main settings and shut off all notifications on my phone. Obviously I forgot all about it…

So now I went ahead and turned them back on. But only for the SensoryTreat app. This way I know when I hear a beep that it’s time for a sensory activity. Because I got used to not receiving any alerts for messages and emails, I’m now checking my phone for them at my connivence, not their’s!  Perhaps I could also just setup a different sound. But it’s so great not hearing my phone go off all the time. I now only hear it in the context of being a good dad. That’s an improvement considering previously each alert was a sign for my upcoming disappearance into the virtual world. I read somewhere that our kids will talk to their shrink about lack of parental attention due to phones. Well mine are actually starting to like it when the phone beeps. They know it’s time for some fun stuff…

Next, I noticed my wife isn’t getting her alarms either. So showing off my recent learning I explained to her all about Notification Center of the phone’s operating system. Only to learn that she is two steps ahead of me (as usual). She did turn the alerts on and she did so for the SensoryTreat app specifically, but she is still not hearing any alarms. So now I had to roll up my virtual sleeves, put aside my iPhone sense and navigate her Android phone to see what’s wrong. Twenty minutes later, eureka! Alerts are working but their volume is silent… 

Okay, so now we both have the app setup, with the sensory program. We are both getting alerts, and hearing them. Now all we have left is to do what it says… Well almost all. Our OT wanted to see the app and how we set it up. She suggested we add another oral activity before dinner time. And with this last fix, we are now all set.