It’s been 21 years of taking care of one of my 3 most valuable possessions, my daughter!

There’s nothing like the bond of a mother and a daughter.

When she got accepted to law school everything changed. 

 In a blink, life moved forward so fast. How would I keep my daughter simply safe in an apartment? 

 Here we are at what I call the height of pride and the low of parenthood.

She’s off on a new life adventure, hours away, in a 2 bedroom apartment, all on her own in a place where she knows, no one!

How To Keep Your Daughter Simply Safe in An Apartment 

Originally published October 15, republished and updated Jan 2021. ~ Dana 

Trust me, this article is NOT about hovering, helicopter parenting, or attempting to micro-manage, it’s just about worry and safety! 

Let’s keep that in mind as you read. I am NOT that parent.

In fact, quite the opposite as I do want her to grow up and experience life, just wanting her to rest safely. 

Yes, she’s lived away before, but in a secured, DORM. 

She was a Resident Assistant and campus security was a stone’s throw away. 

However, all that has changed. Law school, moving and an apartment, all are game-changers for parenting! 

I did not feel that she was SIMPLY SAFE so I made sure that we stepped up the security so SHE could sleep better and so could I! 

Current Situation – It’s not Simply Safe in an Apartment 

Kallie, now lives in a 2 BEDROOM, apartment, with a balcony and the ENTRANCE Door on the lower level.

Her apartment complex consists of about 25 buildings, and multiple 2 bedrooms, units. 

After spending the weekend setting her up in her new apartment, the one word that describes OUR (Kallie & Mine) feelings is SCARED.  

When the air conditioner runs you can’t hear the door open.

The main entrance is down a set of stairs, very separate from her room. 

Safety, Security & What The Hell Do We Do? – Getting to be Simply Safe In an Apartment 

Naturally, I reviewed the apartment contract over and over. 

One of the girls there had put a surveillance camera at her front door and was asked to TAKE IT DOWN. 

That’s not anywhere in the contract, so I was ready to sit down and review that with management if challenged. 

We installed our camera, and we did everything necessary because that was NOT in the contract! 

Let’s Talk Interior Issues – Are they currently Simply Safe or not? 

She’s not a fan of the front door. It’s a chain lock! 

While it is chain locked, it’s JUST a chain.

The Glass Patio door is a sliding door! To temporarily remedy that, I placed a piece of wood in there.

Trying to give a bit of calm, I figured the wood would allow her to rest and not worry that the sliding door could be opened. 

Bedrooms and Not Really Simply Safe In my Opinion 

The bedrooms are in the back of the apartment. 

There are multiple closets with bifold doors. 

Do you feel creeped out or like we are heading into a horror movie yet? 

Where the bedroom is located, so is the cooling unit closet. Great! It makes a TON of noise. 

While the sound might lull one to sleep it also does not afford you the chance to hear the front door. 

Why Does THIS all Matter? Simply Safe in an Apartment has to happen, it’s not like Home! 

Our personal home has an alarm. She’s used to this. 

We’ve never been without home security, and she always FELT Safe as do we.

Now, things are changed and I have no way to protect her or to make her feel safe and secure. 

Lacking sleep is not a good way to approach long days of reading and studying. 

Not being able to sleep due to a new environment and all the extra aforementioned played hard into her first month! 

Get SimpliSafe, it’s a Game Changer, we know, we used it and LOVE it! 

What Did I Try Before Making it Simply Safe in an apartment? 

Don’t you dare laugh?

Since I spent a 3-day weekend there, I wanted to see how I could resolve issues. 

First Ineffective Attempt for Front Door Anxiety! 

My ineffective attempt to help her at this point resulted in cat bells in cat toys.

I attached these bells to a 3m plastic hook on the entrance door. 

Oh, could it be that pathetic? Yep! It hardly makes a noise.

Well, it made a bell noise, but from the bedroom area, you could not hear it.

Also, with the AC running, and cooking in the kitchen, surely it would not deter anyone. 

Epic Fail! 

Corrective Actions Making Her Apartment Simply Safe! 

Kallie needs a reliable security system.

Not the dollar store items.

She needs an alarm that can be packed up and move with her.

An alarm system that reminds her if a window or door is open.

Trust me, it’s not a castle in size, but when you are studying and running for school, you forget!

How about a system that has sensors, and is a day watch as well as night as she sleeps. 

New Tech for New Times 

To achieve what she needs fast, we teamed up with SimpliSafe. 

They offer a no-contract, easy to install and use system, perfect for those in apartments. 

In fact, it is almost like THIS story of how to keep your daughter Simply Safe in an apartment could have written itself.

Doors, Windows & Safety making an apartment Simply Safe! 

Now, with the practical products from window and door sensors, there’s no worrying if anyone got in. 

My favorite part of this whole project is the fact that I don’t need any drills or hammers! 

This project as a DIY will be a very simple setup!

Law students (any college student) need their sleep, and you can’t rest if you are not calm and protected!

This is WHERE SIMPLISAFE surpasses expectations. 

Practice, Align, Peel, Place. 

That’s all there really is to this WHOLE project. 

I started at the front door. 

Taking a sensor set and figuring out what positioning made the most sense on the entrance INTERIOR door. 

The chain would remain there, without a question. However, now we were about to get REAL safe! 

Windows & Sliding Door are now Simply Safe

More sensors. 

All I had to do was test the alignment of each before I placed it. 

Then, peel, stick, press, let go! 

They worked! 

In about 15 minutes the whole apartment was done! 

Our DIY with the SimpliSafe system was easy and fast! 

Monitoring Is Simply Wonderful 

Our famous story is the call from the apartment. 

We had not yet connected the monitoring. I had left, she needed to make the call. 

School was earlier than the office opened so she put her alarm on. 

Fully intending to call the Apartment Management office to provide a passage code for entrance without an episode. 

Somehow, maintenance was to spray for bugs and showed up, set the alarm off and I got a call. 

My daughter could not be reached.

Her cell was off she was in class, and the alarm would NOT stop ringing. 

That was Day 1.

Once we got things together THAT Never happened again. Human error, not tech error. 

The FOB 

Her FOB is what she depends on daily. 

However, it has served some challenges.

Mainly it stopped working and it needs to be traded out. 

It was under warranty, like a month old. 

AN issue here is, with law school being so demanding, she has not had time to mail it. 

While she has to get on this issue and resolve it, the FOB was a good tool to have, WHILE IT WORKED, BUT don’t count on it going the long mile. 

IF YOU are looking for the HONEST Truth I am telling you the truth. 

In fact, this is my biggest issue with the system, the loss of performance. 

We tossed ours out. 

To have to mail it back and exchange is tough when you have zero time to yourself. 

Law school is demanding, and there is zero free time, so we read more reviews and the FOB is always the issue. 

The FOB arms and disarms the alarm without touching the key panel upon entrance. 

Therefore, she can get in, and already have it disarmed. 

Conversely, she keeps it by her at all times at night.

If there is an issue, she can sound the alarm. 

Since Installation 

Once installed, SimpliSafe has given Kallie piece of mind. 

She sleeps.

She naps

It’s armed when she is home and when she leaves. 

Unlike before, when there was no way to tell if a door or window was closed, she knows NOW. 

Rest is important to health and attributed to functioning well. Kallie can rest. 

Better yet, hours away, I rest.

I may not be in the room, in the apartment or even a street away, but SimpliSafe is monitoring my daughter. 

Safety, after all, is what we all want for our families. Piece of mind is what comes as part of the package. 

My POV — Again or Not? Simply Safe for my other kids? 

TO be honest, I love SimpliSafe.

You would not find it on my website if I did not. 

It blows everything else away as far as tech and setup go. 

In fact, we just tried RING and one day later, RING got boxed up and returned because it is AWFUL! 

The tech malfunctions.

It’s not good and I would never use it, we ripped it right back out and returned it. 

So, as far as security goes, SimpliSafe has it ALL Over most out there. 

SimpliSafe, with simple installs, provide reliable, wireless home security. 

SimpliSafe is simply great from install to monitoring, we could not be happier with our choice.

While my story reads, how to keep your daughter simply safe in an apartment, yours might read, son, wife, family, etc. ~ Dana XO