We read all these articles on our phone and iPad...do we always read them when the kid isn't around? Do we read them hiding in the loo?
No .. More often than not we read them when we are around the kids..
Who writes these articles? A blogger... A writer... What does a blogger use to blog? His or her laptop.. iPad or phone?
Does he or she only write when the kids go to school? Or are playing out in the gardens?
Nope... Somedays you think of a post and pick up your phone to jot it down.. Your kid is sitting in front of you...
Look I'm not saying give the kid the iPad all day... but please in this day and age when our phones are extensions of our hands do not make such a major deal out of a kid with an iPad.
I remember the first time we gave Siddy the iPad.
He must have been around one maybe a little more... we only played nursery rhymes on it.... cute ones like Old Mc Donald and Mary had a Little Lamb and Twinkle twinkle little star... Three songs he sings fluently today...
It took a lot debating between us, husband and wife, parents to the kid, before we got one... our reason was that if we get one without the sim, he wont get the radiation he would get from our phones that he already was playing with... We discussed the time he would get on it... Only during a very difficult meal time and some in the day if I had to work...
No matter our reasons, we got quite a lot of flak for it. From every tom dick and harry... Becasue people seem to think commenting on parenting styles is a god given right that can be used whether they know the parents or kids or neither....
Today at two, he can use my phone and iPad easily. He knows where his apps are, he knows where his music is, he cant actually type what he wants on youtube, but has figured how to find it thru their suggestions at the bottom of the videos.
We even removed the youtube app at one point when we thought he was watching too many rubbish ones, like the ever famous surprise in an egg shell, so we would find the ones we were ok with on safari and put it on... But now the smart cookie not only has figured that the safari button is just like the youtube button, he has found his stupid eggs again...
The whole point of this is.... Look, my work is pretty much all on the net... I research here... I blog here... I share here... I make all my designs on photoshop , I make my presentations on keynote..so I'm pretty much on my computer for work all day....
If not, I work on my phone... I have my blogger app, my Pinterest so basically I'm on a gadget all day myself...
How do I refuse him all the time?
Before you say anything... look around you right now... out of ten people eight are on their phone... And not all are doing 'Time Pass' most work on it... but point is we are staring at the screen. So how do you say no to a kid when everyone else in the room is using their phone?
Basically the only way to stop him from being on a gadget is to give mine up too...
I'm ok with that... Its tough i'll be the first to admit... my phone truly is attached to my hand... There is no message unanswered, no post no comment unseen... I see the number on any app and it kills me I have to open it to get rid of it...
But here is the thing...after we are all gadget free... what?
Ever tried keeping a toddler busy all day without one... Ok ok all you super moms, crafty moms I can make everything at home a game moms please disappear...heck I'm a crafty girl but the thought of cleaning up all that messy paint after is exhausting... also i work from home (or at least i try to work) so doing anything crafty post my work is well just more work!
I know mums who are home with the kids and really do manage to spend a lot of time with them engaging them in educational things... And my hats off to them... hopefully once I have mastered the art of balancing working from home and the toddler I will do that too...
But for now... and most importantly at meal times... I am using the blasted iPad ... have you seen how much faster that rice goes into his mouth? Damn, the kid doesn't care what you are feeding him... all the veggies, hidden in rotis of course and covered in curd, goes into his tummy in less that half the time without the iPad.
I know the iPap isn't the best thing in the world, actually I don't really think that... I think anything in an over dose is bad... Yes he plays with his toys , yes he goes down and plays with the boys, yes he reads his hundred and one books, yes he plays with water and utensils, yes he colors with his non messy crayons... but he also loves his iPad...
My point is if you get good apps for him, like we have you are good....like one of our alphabet apps teaches him words like N for Narwhal.... whats a Narwhal you ask? Go get the app!!!!
No seriously... Monitor what they watch... monitor the time but please don't send me a link to why the iPad is the worst thing you can ever ever ever give your kid... I'll unfriend you because chances are we are only friends because we are both online!!!!!
Look I'm not saying give the kid the iPad all day... but please in this day and age when our phones are extensions of our hands do not make such a major deal out of a kid with an iPad.
I remember the first time we gave Siddy the iPad.
He must have been around one maybe a little more... we only played nursery rhymes on it.... cute ones like Old Mc Donald and Mary had a Little Lamb and Twinkle twinkle little star... Three songs he sings fluently today...
It took a lot debating between us, husband and wife, parents to the kid, before we got one... our reason was that if we get one without the sim, he wont get the radiation he would get from our phones that he already was playing with... We discussed the time he would get on it... Only during a very difficult meal time and some in the day if I had to work...
No matter our reasons, we got quite a lot of flak for it. From every tom dick and harry... Becasue people seem to think commenting on parenting styles is a god given right that can be used whether they know the parents or kids or neither....
Today at two, he can use my phone and iPad easily. He knows where his apps are, he knows where his music is, he cant actually type what he wants on youtube, but has figured how to find it thru their suggestions at the bottom of the videos.
We even removed the youtube app at one point when we thought he was watching too many rubbish ones, like the ever famous surprise in an egg shell, so we would find the ones we were ok with on safari and put it on... But now the smart cookie not only has figured that the safari button is just like the youtube button, he has found his stupid eggs again...
The whole point of this is.... Look, my work is pretty much all on the net... I research here... I blog here... I share here... I make all my designs on photoshop , I make my presentations on keynote..so I'm pretty much on my computer for work all day....
If not, I work on my phone... I have my blogger app, my Pinterest so basically I'm on a gadget all day myself...
How do I refuse him all the time?
Before you say anything... look around you right now... out of ten people eight are on their phone... And not all are doing 'Time Pass' most work on it... but point is we are staring at the screen. So how do you say no to a kid when everyone else in the room is using their phone?
Basically the only way to stop him from being on a gadget is to give mine up too...
I'm ok with that... Its tough i'll be the first to admit... my phone truly is attached to my hand... There is no message unanswered, no post no comment unseen... I see the number on any app and it kills me I have to open it to get rid of it...
But here is the thing...after we are all gadget free... what?
Ever tried keeping a toddler busy all day without one... Ok ok all you super moms, crafty moms I can make everything at home a game moms please disappear...heck I'm a crafty girl but the thought of cleaning up all that messy paint after is exhausting... also i work from home (or at least i try to work) so doing anything crafty post my work is well just more work!
I know mums who are home with the kids and really do manage to spend a lot of time with them engaging them in educational things... And my hats off to them... hopefully once I have mastered the art of balancing working from home and the toddler I will do that too...
But for now... and most importantly at meal times... I am using the blasted iPad ... have you seen how much faster that rice goes into his mouth? Damn, the kid doesn't care what you are feeding him... all the veggies, hidden in rotis of course and covered in curd, goes into his tummy in less that half the time without the iPad.
I know the iPap isn't the best thing in the world, actually I don't really think that... I think anything in an over dose is bad... Yes he plays with his toys , yes he goes down and plays with the boys, yes he reads his hundred and one books, yes he plays with water and utensils, yes he colors with his non messy crayons... but he also loves his iPad...
My point is if you get good apps for him, like we have you are good....like one of our alphabet apps teaches him words like N for Narwhal.... whats a Narwhal you ask? Go get the app!!!!
No seriously... Monitor what they watch... monitor the time but please don't send me a link to why the iPad is the worst thing you can ever ever ever give your kid... I'll unfriend you because chances are we are only friends because we are both online!!!!!
Totally agree with you Alishka on this. Being 'not perfect' is true parenting, I think. Can feel so connected to your blog and your journey with your son :) Nominating you for Liebster Award! http://wp.me/p3V9h9-E0
ReplyDeleteThanks so much :)
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