Author name: Jenny Nicole

smartphone Spy App
Cell Phone Tracking

Tutorial: How to Monitor IM Chats on Any Smartphone

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  We’ve been getting a lot of curious parents (and a few employers) writing to us lately and asking if it is possible for them to read IM conversations on their kid’s phones. To which I say: have you not read our blog? Of course it is possible! The first thing you need to do to start spying IM chats is to get hold of the end user’s device for a few minutes. Then, you’ll need to install XNSPY on it. You will receive a step-by-step guide on how to do this on your particular device upon purchase. Just follow the instructions, and you’ll be all set to start monitoring. From here on, log onto the XNSPY Control Panel. You will be given your username and password upon purchase. Type that in and you’ll be taken to the dashboard. Select the device you wish to monitor. Now, you’ll notice the sidebar, which looks like this: Click on Messenger. This will drop down to show all the IM chats that you can monitor with XNSPY. Here’s what it will look like. You’ll be able to monitor: Viber Skype iMessage WhatsApp Line Kik Facebook Clicking on each tab individually will take you to window where all respective chats are recorded and saved. However, before you begin monitoring, make sure the features relating to each of these Messengers has been toggled on. To do so, click on “Settings” on your sidebar. Then click on “Toggle Features”. Make sure the button in front of Messenger Logs is tuned on. If it is off, the data related to it will NOT be recorded and you won’t be able to spy on that particular Messenger. If you don’t want to spy on a particular Messenger (your kids/employees don’t use them or it is crowding your Control Panel), you can simply turn it off. For all Messengers, you can view each message sent or received both individually, and in “Conversation” or thread view as well. At the same time, you can put certain Contacts, numbers or words in the Watchlist so you get alerts on it. To set Watchlist items, go to Settings once more. To Add a Watchlist Word, click on that tab and add the word in the bar as shown To Add a Watchlist Contact, click on that tab and fill in the form with all Contact details and click on “Watchlist Contacts” as shown Now you are all set to start monitoring IM chats. It really is way simpler than it looks. All the tabs and buttons make your life easier where you don’t even have to do anything. Just sit back and let XNSPY do all the work for you. You’ll just need your vigilant eye!

Rebellious Phase
Child Monitoring

How to Deal With the Teenage “Rebellious Phase”

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Don’t you sometimes wish your kids would’ve have skipped the complicated teen age and transitioned straight into adulthood? Ah, if only parenting were that simple. As if you didn’t have enough to worry about what with their grades and their peer group and their nutrition, you’ve got to deal with their weird behavior problems as well. Call it rage, call it angst, call it rebellion. But yes, all teenagers have a phase where all they seem to want to do is disagree with you. So how do you “parent” when the kid is being so difficult? Rebellion Takes Many Forms Teenage rebellion can take a number of shapes. Your kid could have a punk phase where they start dressing up in black and pink cutoffs and dye their hair. Or they could suddenly decide they are emo and start talking about death and darkness. But let’s not just talk about media tropes. Kids in the real world will have more complex ways to rebel that you might not be able to point out by jargon and attire. And so it is your job to understand why they are acting the way that they are. Your kid could rebel by not paying attention in school and getting bad grades talking back to you or their teachers being rude to other family members Being moodier and more reclusive. having episodes of rage and anger management problems, too. Top Blokes has the stats. Every kid is different, so they’ll have different ways of acting out. What you can do as the parent is understand what is making them act the way that they are. But also know that it is all a part of growing up. Understand Where Rebellion Comes From The two main ideas they will rebel against are social conformity any form of authority Sometimes, kids only do deviant stuff to fit in. For example, they might start smoking because their friends do it. And that makes understanding things a bit more complicated. Because how would you know if they’re only smoking for acceptance or if they’re doing it on their own accord? Well, there is a way you can find out. Psychologists agree that teenagers with lower self-esteem have a higher chance of rebellion. They are easily influenced by other kids in their peer group or a pop culture figure they idolize. In that case, you’ve got to look for signs. Read Your Kid like a Book All the rebellion, be it from peer pressure or from their own will takes a toll on them as well. Which is why you should look for these indicators: Do they seem anxious to you lately? Are they showing signs of stress? Are they unhappy? Are they eating healthy? Are they getting the right amount of sleep? You need to know that this phase is perhaps more stressful for them than it is for you. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has the numbers on kids with mental disorders. Behavioral changes in teenagers are okay. Anxiety, stress and depression is not. Take the Right Action When your teenager is being difficult, being stricter with them only makes act out even more. So be logical and try doing these things instead. From the get-go, give them respect and teach them to give respect in return Talk to them about the importance of honor and self-respect Talk to them about matters like substance abuse Know who their friends are Be the someone they can talk to Don’t wait till it’s too late to take them to a counsellor if you think things are out of hand Kids in this age are only figuring out who they are. All these different phases and mood swings and behavioral changes are just part of the process of self-discovery. So let them go through this process on their own terms. They’ll be all grown up in a few more years, anyway.  

Kids Won’t Leave Facebook
Social Media

Kids Won’t Leave Facebook Even Though They Don’t Like it Anymore

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A while ago, Facebook did some research to find out who its core users are. Social media is always seen as a youth thing, isn’t it? But apparently, the numbers gave them a different picture altogether. They found that their teen demographic is dwindling. Kids are moving away from Facebook it seemed. Mind you, this research was conducted in 2013, surely things might have changed in this time? As it turned out, their original numbers were wrong. It wasn’t the numbers that were dwindling. It was popularity. Teens were still using Facebook… they just didn’t liked it. Facebook Isn’t Hip Anymore Facebook isn’t cool anymore. That’s the problem here. Kids still use it, but they won’t brag about it. They use it more out of convenience than anything else. In the same way we can’t live without the telephone or a watch, Facebook is too darn useful to quit, and that’s the annoying bit. Or as Huffington Post puts it, it’s like ‘indoor plumbing’—not entirely necessary but has way too many benefits. So the original study remains true to some extent. Teens aren’t using it with the same enthusiasm as they’re using, say, Snapchat or Instagram. But they’re still using it. Who is Using Facebook Now? What is it that is still keeping Facebook, going? Why it is the teen’s parents of course. The same study has found out that the future of this social networking website are the parents that are slowly but surely learning to adapt to the connected world. Facebook happens to be the Segway that is wheeling them into it. This is rather refreshing for me to hear. Because up until this point, social media moguls have always looked to teens to predict their future prospects and to make creative decisions. So the fact that the leading website is now looking to parents and the older audience for inspiration is actually quite progressive. And that is what this blog is about isn’t it. You’ve always been the stars of our little conversations, too. Our goal, from the get go, has been to educate and inform you about the digital world. Sure, you didn’t grow up into a world of smartphones, but you’ve seen it all. Which means you have seen all breakthroughs in tech and you have adapted to them, too. You see? You’re doing just fine and we’re going to make sure you stay on top!

Your Child Is Keeping Secrets
Child Monitoring, Tips

3 Tips to Save Yourself Blues If Your Child Is Keeping Secrets

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Everyone keeps secrets, from kids to fully grownup adults. We usually don’t care much if an adult is having a secret life but why it’s worrisome if a child is having one? Because unlike adults, kids are naive and for that reason, they are not good with dealing with stress, pressure and obviously secrets that bring a heavy burden on their chest with them. It’s vital that parents ease off this distress of their kids by knowing their problems and providing necessary ailments. Whether our kids lie about their whereabouts or attend a party without letting us know, the betrayal hurts badly. This way kids not only lose our trust but then we also have to confront a variety of creepy questions about their actions, whereabouts and safety. Tracking their smartphone is one simple way to know why your kid has been lying to you. How monitoring can be a life-saver? The cell phone that our kids use for communicating with friends over social media or to text others can also clue parents into certain potentially dangerous situations that our kids might put themselves in. By monitoring a child’s cell phone activity, we can clearly understand the reality behind their lies. Also, it’s easy to catch kids off-guard behind our backs when they are not highly conscious of being seen. And by catching lies, we don’t mean those typical teen lies like who are their crush or innocent white lies like “no dad your hair looks fine, they are not that gray” The secrets that we are talking about can lead to risky or unsafe behavior and may include lies like: Talking and dating strangers online Hanging out with the wrong people Their whereabouts Surfing explicit and underage content online Unhealthy and risky behavior like the use of drugs or eating disorders. Bullying other kids online or being victimized by other bullies. Read More: A Review of the Reported Cases of Cyber Bullying in 2017 So Far 3 Tips for Tracking a Smartphone of a secretive kid Tracking smartphone activity of a secretive child is the best way to find out information without crossing the line. Take a look at these three recommendations by XNSPY experts: 1.      Use a Smartphone Monitoring Software on Their Phones Encouraging a monitoring app from the very beginning. This way, they can be guided towards learning the right smartphone skills. So the better they behave, the lesser monitoring that will be required. 2.      Choose a Monitoring App with Built-In GPS Tracking Service If you have the clue that your kid has a habit of lying about their whereabouts, then always choose an app that has a built-in GPS tracker so whenever they leave house for some other place, you can always track their real-time location to determine if they are lying or not. 3.      Don’t Panic or Jump To Generalized Conclusions Immediately Even if you have got some anomalous information on your kid’s phone, don’t react immediately. Give a try at understanding the context of the conversations before making a generalized conclusion. And lastly, never confront your kids directly. Always use a subtle and more natural way to introduce a topic to your child. (xanax) Encourage your teen to discuss their problems and issues with you.    

Emojis and kids
Social Media

Why Are Emojis So Popular Amongst Kids?

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Emojis are all the rage, aren’t they? They really have plagued our texting habits. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like my text message is complete if it doesn’t end with the sunglasses Emoji or the sassy girl hair flip (shush, I know it is supposed to be an information desk person). If you think about it, they aren’t much else other than little faces of animals and meaningless objects that don’t really make much sense on their own. But kids these days use them anyway, and quite often. What I find funny here is that this leaves their parents quite confused. Because it makes monitoring text messages way trickier. Believe it or not, the implied meaning of a text message can change with a single emoji, but it can be misunderstood if not viewed within its cultural context. That’s what parents are missing. So let’s talk about it in a bit more detail. What Makes Emojis So Popular? This video provides an accurate explanation: It is a tale as old as time. Humans have communicated through hieroglyphics before, haven’t they? It’s because Emojis—tiny drawings though they might be—manage to convey a lot more than words could. At times they are more impactful than words; other times they change the meanings of words altogether. One thing is for sure, however. There isn’t a single WhatsApp or Facebook chat that goes on without them. More to Emojis than Meets the Eye Emoticons aren’t new to the internet. They’ve just evolved and we’ve picked Emojis as our new favorites as IMs have gone mobile. In whatever shape or form they exist, there is always more to them than we initially expect. How? Take this harmless, familiar smiley for example 🙂 Over the years, we’ve automatically associated this smiley with friendliness and general amiability. But this innocent smiley does a lot more than that. Consider the following text messages: Text 1: Don’t be late Text 2: Don’t be late 🙂 Text 1 can come across as rude or seem like a condescending order. The inclusion of a smiley in Text 2 softens the blow and turns it into a request more than anything else. This can explain why emoticons can make you happy. Now consider the following messages: Text 1: Aren’t you clever Text 2: Aren’t you clever 🙂 The inclusion of a smiley in Text 2 reinforces the passive aggressive nature of the text message. Here, it is used to imply sarcasm and snark. Or as the kids say it, “to throw shade”. Emojis are just easier communicative tools. People have always reacted to symbols. And there’s why there is way more psychology behind the Emojis your kids use. There is way more than meets the eye. Emojis Switch up Your Thinking It goes without saying, symbols (or in our case, Emojis) can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. That’s why one person thinks the lady with hand emoji is a hair flip and the other take it to be an information desk person. So here’s where the center of concern for parents should lie. Kids have been known to dabble in Emoji death threats. Symbols—and by extension, Emojis—have power. This is why kids use them so much and why a messaging app exists where you only talk in Emojis. It called Emoji if you want to give it a look. If you’re a parent that is not very familiar with the fad, your kid may as well be speaking in code. So keep up and know that like it or not, these icons are bringing a lot to digital conversations these days. They’ve instigated conversations about race relations and diversity, so they have cultural impact, tiny as they might be.

Reduce Clutter from Your Control Panel
Tips

XNSPY Watchlist: How to Reduce Clutter from Your Control Panel

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So a lot of you have been writing to us saying that you’ve got a lot of unnecessary information cluttering your Control Panel. Some even said it takes them a good couple of hours of scrolling every day before they can even get to the juicy stuff. So I decided I should address that situation via a blog post so I can talk about it in more detail. Here is why that happens. XNSPY is designed to record and upload everything (all the features you signed up for) from your target phone. Anything and everything that the target user does on their phone or tablet is recorded. And we realize that it can be a lot of information, especially if you’re looking to monitor teens that have been known to send over 1200 messages per month. However, we’ve got a neat filter system that can help you get to the real stuff a lot quicker. This right here should be your filtering bible: The Remote Control Settings page on your Control Panel. Here we’ve got six tabs: Toggle Features Toggle Alerts Add Watchlist Words Add Watchlist Contacts Add Watchlist Locations Edit Device Profile The first 5 tabs are different data filter tabs. This is what you need to dig through the clutter and make your life a whole lot easier. The last tab allows you to change profile settings, so it is not relevant to this discussion. I’m now going to go through each one of the filters to show you how you can organize and search through your data. Toggle Features The toggle features tab will have the list of all the features you have purchased. From here you can flip a switch to decide what features you want information from and what features you’d rather turn off so no more unnecessary data is uploaded. Here is how the features are presented: See that button in front of every feature? Simple switch it on if you want data from that feature to be uploaded, or toggle off if you don’t. This way, you can narrow down to the features you actually want to use. You can come back to this page any time you like to enable or disable any feature. Toggle Alerts With XNSPY, you can create Watchlist Contacts, Watchlist Words and Watchlist Locations to receive notifications from. This means any time there is activity related to your Watchlist entries, you receive an alert. However, if you no longer wish to receive notifications from one of the Watchlist features, you can simply go to the Toggle Alerts tab and disable the function you don’t want. Here what it will look like. Simply save your changes and you’ll be done. You won’t get alerts you don’t want anymore. Add Watchlist Words If you don’t want to receive an alert for every single text message your kid sends out or every single email your employee writes, simply define Watchlist Words. These can be suspicious words, or ‘trigger’ words you think you need to look out for. This is what this tab looks like: See the bar at the top that says “Add Watchlist Word”? Type in your suspicious word there, then click on Add. Now you will receive a notification any time that word is used on their phone, so you won’t have to go searching for it through heaps of other messages. Add Watchlist Contacts If you’re suspicious of a certain friend of your kid, or have a hunch your employee is leaking company info to an ex-employee, you could simply add in that Contact to your Watchlist. The Watchlist Contacts tab is the place to go and this is what it looks like: From here, you can tell that you can define a contact by their Name on the target phone Number Email address Type in the necessary information and that Contact will now be on your radar. You can delete a contact from your Watchlist anytime you like. Add Watchlist Locations And finally, you can skim your location data by entering Watchlist Locations and only receiving notifications on them. This is what the Add Watchlist Locations tab looks like: All you’ve got to do is click on the “Add Place” button (marked by the red arrow). This will take you to a form where you can specify and label the place you want to geo-fence. This is what it would look like: Now this location will be saved and would appear on the main “Watchlist Locations” tab. You’ll receive an alert any time there is activity related to it. Data Skimming Completed All you’ve got to do is know how to adjust your remote control settings and all your data will be filtered for you. I hope this has been helpful. If you’ve got more questions, feel free to write to us!

Best Private Investigator
Tips

5 Steps to Becoming the World’s Best Private Investigator

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Have you ever felt like you’re being lied to? Like there’s a giant elephant in the room and only you can’t see it? That is one of the worst feelings in the world. Sadly, many parents feel it on a day to day basis. In fact, I think most parents feel out of the loop with their kids through most of their lives. So you know what? There has been enough of these lies. We for one don’t want you to feel this way anymore, not when we’ve promised to help you with monitoring so many times. You only need 5 steps before you become the world’s best private investigator anyway. Better put that incognito coat on, special agent, your training begins now. Step 1: Notice Everything Investigators need to keep their eyes peeled all the time, but they also need to view things differently to other people. You’ll need to notice everything and look for clues in the most unexpected places. Observe your child closely and then look for patterns. This probably comes naturally to parents anyway, so step 1 should be a breeze. Step 2: Choose the Sneak Life Being an investigator requires a lot of stealth that much you should know. Which is why you need to choose the sneak life. There may be time you’ll be doing a lot of following your kid around so you’ve got to figure out the perfect ways to blend in. If you’re a mom tailing your rebellious teen, make sure you dress very un-mom life. Many detectives wear earthy colors so they don’t stand out from the crowd too much. Step 3: Know Your Gadgets And now to the cool stuff. You can’t be a private investigator without all the right gadgets, can you? Hi-tech equipment will get half your job done right away. So if you’re wondering where it is that your son or daughter sneaks off to in the middle of the night, install XNSPY on their phone. You’ll be able to track their every moment and they won’t even find out. Your PI cred will be intact. Step 4: Expect a Lot of Waiting Being a PI sounds interesting, and of course it has its moments. But truth be told, there is a whole lot of doing absolutely nothing at all in between the exciting things. A lot of detectives have to wait in their cars for hours upon hours before they find a lead. But this is where you’ve got to revert back to step 1. Don’t forget to observe during all the waiting. Or kill your PI blues by scrolling through your spy app. Step 5: Act Wisely So you’ve got your observation skills, your binoculars, your XNSPY and the right disguise. Seems like you are on your way. But don’t forget; like any other great detective, you will have to learn to use all these skills and gadgets appropriately. This means that every lead that you get on your child needs to be followed up by a conversation. That’s the only way PI-ing and parenting can coexist.

Back_to_school
Child Monitoring

How to Prepare Your Kids to Go Back to School

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It’s that time of the year again. The commercials have started rolling and the barbecue grills have been packed away. (https://www.secolarievoo.com) Sorry kids, it was fun while it lasted, but summer’s ending. Which means only one thing; it’s back to school season. And let me tell you, that first day back is a battle, especially when both parent and kid have been locked away in a sunshine bliss. Both are out of touch with their regular life agendas, both have forgotten how chaotic early mornings are, there’s a lot of yelling from both parties, and sleep schedules? Yes, both had 3 months to muck them all up. So what do we do to avoid that inevitable clash of the titans? We make the right preparations. Fix that Sleep Schedule I’m pretty sure that at this point of summer, your kids are nocturnal. They’ve been staying up all night and sleeping well into the day. So you’ve got to take a military approach to this situation. About a week before school opens, start waking up the kids a little early. It takes a person nearly 3-4 days to restore their sleep schedule in a healthy manner. Make sure you increasingly wake them up closer to their school time with each day. In this way, they won’t be so groggy and sleep-deprived when the day finally arrives. And they’ll be able to better pay attention on their first day of school, too. You can try these tips from SignatureMD.com too: Get Things in Order Here’s the thing: we’re all out of touch with the going to school business so the first early morning is going to be super chaotic. This is why you need to sort things out the night before. Make a checklist of all the things you think you’ll need in the morning. Things like Clean clothes, socks etc. Packed lunch School schedule, signed notes Homework Car keys Lay out all the things sequentially so you aren’t running in circles when you need them. Divide the Morning into Phases Literally write down a game plan the night before and divide everything into phases. You probably won’t need it after you get your back to school mojo back. But it is important for the first day. Phase 1: Wake kids up. If you’ve got younger kids, pick out fresh clothes the night before. If your kids are older, urge them to do the same. Trust me, it saves up on your morning time. Phase 2: Breakfast. Don’t skip this part at all, and don’t let your kids trick you into thinking they’ll “eat on the way”. Phase 3: Things they’ll need. Check if they have their notebooks, pens, pencils, books, notes and homework. Hand them their lunch last. Phase 4: The car ride/bus: if you’ve executed your plan well, this part would be easy. You had your things in order, you made a checklist and you orchestrated your morning to the t. Take a Breath of Relief The worst is over! You made it through! See all it takes is a little bit of preplanning and a whole lot of motivation. Your kids are not going to be too psyched about getting back into the tests and grades and report cards cycle. But you’ve got to remind them why going back to school isn’t as bad as they make it out to be. That they get to get back with their friends, play the sports they enjoy and explore their talents for the future.

Employee-Morale
Employee Monitoring

How Performance Appraisals Affect Employee Morale

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Let’s talk about the thing no one wants to talk about. The ultimate no-go area that makes any boss-employee meeting awkward as you like. This is the saga of the performance appraisal. Here’s why it is so unpopular; people agree that performance appraisals are one-sided and boss-driven. It acknowledges what is or isn’t wrong with the employee, but does not address problems with the management or people in authority. And there are those that believe that most appraisal formats are flawed to begin with. There is no tangible way an employee’s performance can be evaluated with old fashioned reviews. No love for the performance appraisal there. Here’s why it is awkward; bosses don’t think much of it. Mostly it is viewed as a waste of time, something they must go through because it is another box they need to check. That’s where they go wrong. This may have been a suitable line of thinking (considering no one really looks forward to them, anyway) but sadly, it is the bosses here who have nothing to lose. The employee’s future at the company may depend on how they are evaluated. Here are some more facts about appraisals from Office Vibe that may put things in perspective: What’s a better option than performance appraisals? Frequent communication. Talk to your employees often and give them the feedback—good and bad—that they need. That’s how they’ll mold themselves to your standards and make themselves better. (Provigil) Let’s be honest, annuals reviews are distant, untrue, and not very helpful at all. Simultaneous feedback and communication is way more effective. Which is why we’re big proponents of employee monitoring. The boss needs to know each one of their employees instead of marking that one-time checklist.

Life of a Mom
Child Monitoring

A Day in the Life of an XNSPY Mom

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I’m just going to put it out there: XNSPY Moms are not like regular moms. They are cool moms. The way they chose to parent their kids is unconventional and inspired. They days and minute by minute activities are organized and way different to normal moms. So, what is it that makes them so special? Here’s a day in the life of an XNSPY Mom: They Get the Exclusives A regular mom would start off her day by pouring herself a cup of coffee and picking up the morning paper over breakfast, catch up with the world’s events. An XNSPY Mom starts off the day by reading through their child’s browsing history. Nothing says good morning like scrolling through all the websites your child has been visiting all night when they’re supposed to be asleep. Bonus points if you find something inappropriate because that just gives them a chance to reinstate their supreme mom authority. They Have Hi-Tech Morning Rituals A regular mom would finish off breakfast by driving her kids to school and then scan the school playgrounds for bullies that she’s make note to report on as soon as she could. An XNSPY Mom drives her children to school then makes sure she creates geo-fences around it. Let’s be real here, kids have a knack for adventure and in their recklessness they are going to try and sneak out of school. Can’t let that happen now, can they? A Super Cool Check-in Mode A regular mom would then maybe check up on her kids during lunchtime to see what they’ve been up to and if they’re alright. An XNSPY Mom? She wouldn’t have to because she’ll know exactly what they’ve been doing. She’s got a handy dandy GPS tracker, so she knows where her kids have been prattling onto all day. Regular moms would call them paranoid, but hey, we warned you they’re not regular moms. They keep their child’s safety above everything else. Ninja Skills at Dinner Conversations A regular mom would then sit with her kids at the dinner table and ask how their day went. An XNSPY Mom—you guessed it—would already know how their day went. In fact, they might as well know how it has been by the minute considering they check in on their WhatsApp and other IMs. They can look right through the “Mom, I’ve been studying all day in the library” lies their kids offer. XNSPY Moms can’t be fooled. You can call them paranoid, cautious, overprotective. But at the end of the day, you can’t deny that XNSPY Moms are truly better connected with their kids than regular moms. They know where their kids have been. They know what kind of music their kid’s life. They know what makes them upset when they talk to their friends, they know what makes them happy, and they know what makes them anxious. On top of it all, XNSPY Moms always know what is on their children’s minds without them even having to ask. And that’s what being a mom is all about.

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