That viral phrase, ‘I don’t have a favorite kid, but there is one we try really hard not to annoy,’ perfectly fits my rowdy three-nager. She’s unabashedly commandeering yet sweet, always getting away with mischief. She’s tossed our car keys in the trash can and now runs to bust open the front door and welcome visitors whenever she hears the doorbell ring (sorry, UPS guy).
Also: This smart lock with facial recognition spoiled every other security device for me
We discipline her plenty but know we’re the biggest culprits for her brazenness, being the baby of the family. Giving her control over small things helps her stay confident without tipping into chaos. I taught her how to talk to Alexa to control music and lights and, more recently, how to peer into the front door camera with the Eufy FamiLock S3 Max
When the doorbell rings now, my kids run to the front door and look at the display instead of my three-year-old running to swing the front door open (yes, I already bought an extra child-proof lock). Now, she looks at the lock’s display to satisfy her curiosity and runs to tell us whether the ‘box truck guy’ has a box.
Thanks to the built-in camera and accompanying doorbell button, the FamiLock S3 Max also functions as a video doorbell. This is perfect if you live somewhere with doorbell restrictions, as some rentals don’t allow video doorbells, or if you just want a 2-in-1 solution.
The fact that I’m constantly testing smart locks means that my family always has to adjust to a new door lock on the fly. Though I try to keep similar passcodes when switching smart locks, the constant change means losing saved fingerprint data, which makes it harder for my kids to unlock the door.
But many of the smart locks with fingerprint scanners I’ve tested have been finicky and unreliable, with the glaring exception of the Lockly Visage Zeno