My toddler asked for an iPad and a television for her room
for her birthday this year! What kind of
three year old asks for her own iPad?
Apparently most of them do now. I
never thought I’d be one of those parents who said things like, “Back in my day…” But back in my day, I didn’t get a computer
and internet until 8th grade.
I didn’t have a cell phone until I could drive and I didn’t have my
first iPod until college!
On Zoey’s first international flight this summer, she spent
most of the time watching Frozen and Sleeping Beauty on my husband’s iPad,
which she refers to as her iPad. She
fell asleep at one point, so Brant (my husband, her Dad) “borrowed” his iPad back
to read. She woke up and was very upset
that her iPad had disappeared.
I never cease to be amazed by the things she knows how to do
with electronic technology. My dad was
babysitting her a few months back and I returned home to find her instructing
him on how to turn on NetFlix on the iPad and then stream that to the
ChromeCast hooked up to the television.
She doesn’t know all of the terminology, but she knows if you push the
little squiggly button in the corner that it will start playing on the
television. Where has my baby gone? Where have all the children gone? My child is not the anomaly I have
discovered. Today’s culture is just
different. Children play with iPads and
iPhones like we used to play with Barbie dolls and beanie babies.
On that international vacation I mentioned before, several
nights we saw toddler’s watching Paw Patrol, Octonauts, Shimmer and Shine and
other various cartoons on their iPads.
It kept the kids quiet, which was my reasoning for letting Zoey have one
on the plane. It made me start thinking
though, what lengths will we go to just to keep our kids quiet and well behaved
in public? I don’t want my child to be
glued to technology. I don’t want that
to be the only way I can get her to follow the rules and behave well. Zoey is thankfully still a little chatter box
and would rather be jabbering on to us about whatever she sees going on than
playing a video game or watching an iPad when out at a restaurant, but I have a
feeling those days may be numbered!
A few years ago, I probably would have told you I wouldn’t be
one of those moms that lets her toddler play on an iPad, iPhone or whatever
other gadget is handy. But you know
what, I would have been wrong! As a
parent, you do what it takes to make it in the current situation and do the
best you can for your child. I want to
protect Zoey and educate her and help her grow into a wonderful little
person. A few years back, I would have
probably been one of those judgey people that says I am not doing it right by
letting her have so much time with technology, but now I understand that there
is no one size fits all solution and in some situations handing a toddler an
iPad on a plane is the very best solution possible at the time! Parenthood has made me grow so much as a
parent and learn that you should never utter the words, “I’d never do that!”
because you know what, there’s a really good chance that someday you might!
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