As my girls get older, our schedules get crazier. Between work, school, dance class, tumbling lessons, Girl Scouts, and many birthday parties, I am sure to meet myself coming and going!  Because we have tight schedules, sometimes family members pitch in to pick up the girls from school or take them to an activity.  In order to keep my kids safe, we have a “Family Password” that is given to the person in charge of picking up the kids.  If someone attempts to take them to an activity and does not know the password, the girls know not to get into the car.

We are not the only busy family out there!  Did you know that studies show that 4 out of every 5 students participate in some extracurricular activity outside of their required class load?  To help active families, Master Lock offers several tips and products for keeping active families secure this fall:

1. Embrace the key safe. If your children will be coming home to an empty house after school, or you need to provide secure access to your home for the family dog walker, a key safe such as the 5400D will safely store your house key for easy entry, and eliminate the risk of family members or authorized visitors losing a copy of your key while in transit. Simply set your own easy-to-remember combination on a key safe, and have peace of mind that family members and authorized visitors can enter your home safely when needed.

2. Talk to your children about a “home alone” routine. If your child gets home from school while you are still at work, or if your family is involved in a variety of activities on weekends, it’s important to have guidelines for your children to follow when home alone, including locking the door immediately behind them after entering the house, not spending time outside without a parent home and not answering the door for any visitors.

3. Share schedules. Be sure that your family is aware of each other’s schedules including work, school and extracurricular activities. Keeping a calendar updated with everyone’s activities in a common room such as the kitchen will prevent miscommunication about who will be home and when.

4. Lock up while on the go. We carry valuables with us at all times. Encourage your children to store cash, jewelry, cell phones or other small valuables in a secure container such as the SafeSpace^® (5900D) or MiniSafe™ (5408D) when at sports practice or other after school and weekend activities. Parents should also secure similar valuables when watching their children’s games, heading out for a Saturday morning walk at the local forest preserve or going for coffee on the weekends. These products safely hold your valuables and can also be secured to a fixed object, allowing you or your children to enjoy various activities carefree.

5. Stay safe in the digital space. Use secure passwords and store them well. As your virtual world continues to grow, it’s tempting to utilize one, easy-to-remember password for access to all of your important on-line accounts; however, this puts you at a greater risk for a security breach. Instead, create more secure passwords by varying the code for each of your accounts, and using a combination of letters and numbers in each of your passwords. Then, store all your confidential data including these user names and passwords in the Master Lock Vault. By remembering one user name and one password for your Vault, you will have 24/7 secure access to your confidential information through the website or smart phone app. With the highest level of on-line security available today, the Master Lock Vault ensures your important information is safe and secure, and available to you anytime, anywhere.

Because we do have many family members that help us out, we decided to try the Master Lock Key Safe 5400D in our home.  It was very easy to program the 4 digit code and it holds up to five keys.  We love the over the door knob mount as it keeps the key safe in one location so it won’t get lost.  Due to our often rainy weather, I am happy that the key safe also has a shutter to cover the combo dials which will protect them from harsh weather or dirt.  The best part?  I’ll never get locked out of the house again (oh yes, my daughter managed to lock several of us outside when she learned to use the lock on our back door)!

GIVEAWAY

One reader will win a Master Lock Select Access Security Lock 5400D (ARV $38)!

How to Enter:

1. Tell me which the Master Lock product that would benefit your family the most.

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and Master Lock (10 extra entries).

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4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Masterlock on Facebook.

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Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on October 22nd. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This post is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy. Others may have a differing opinion of the product. While a sample was received to facilitate this review, all opinions remain 100% honest.