So How's the Whole iPad Thing Working for You???

You may remember how much I struggled through most of last year with the decision about introducing technology to the girls.  I am really proud of our non-battery-operated toys, our numerous sets of building blocks, half a million books, and my girls’ art supply fetish.  While I certainly didn’t want them to fall behind the technology curve, I had strongly mixed feelings about interjecting something so “charged” into our Zen-like mix.

I bit the bullet on Labor Day weekend, though, buying the girls each an iPad mini.  I downloaded a handful of educational apps, and set a 30-minute limit for screen time per day.  That first week, I wasn’t exactly regretting my decision, but I did see a lot of my apprehensions at play.  The girls seemed to wake up thinking about their iPads.  “How long until we can play with our iPads?”  “Can we have iPad time now?” I heard at least 20 times a day there for a bit.

The newness eventually wore off, though.  One afternoon, a couple of weeks in, the girls were playing exceptionally well.  It reached the time when I would normally acquiesce their iPads…and they were still engrossed in their pretend play.  I didn’t dare interrupt them.  It was after supper that night when someone remembered in alarm, “Hey!  We didn’t play with our iPads today!”

Now, more than four months in, the girls play with their iPads probably 4 or 5 days a week.  There are occasions when they might watch something on TV (usually from the Animal Planet), and they know that counts as their screen time for the day.  Other days, we just get wrapped up in whatever else we’re doing.  The girls still relish their technology time, but it’s become not such a big deal.

With the balance of our days safely in check, I can tell you there are things I LOVE about the girls and their iPads.  I love the fun apps they have for phonics and math.  I love the amazing pictures they can explore on their astronomy and wild life apps.  I love the functionality of the maps.  And I love how much fun the girls have taking pictures and videos.

Far beyond that, though, the girls are diving into technology, not afraid to figure things out…and I REALLY love that!  That’s exactly why I wanted to get iPads for them, so they could begin to develop an intuition about computer logic, and not be intimidated by technological things they don’t know.

The girls love to play with the camera on their iPads, and a big source of entertainment is taking new pictures for their backgrounds.  It amazes me that they figured that out so quickly, as THEY CANNOT READ to navigate the systems.  They both got there so easily through trial and error!  It wasn’t long before they learned how to take screen shots of virtually anything…even within an app…and save that as a background.  And HOW did they learn the word “screenshot”???

I love to see the girls working together, too.  “Hey, Sissy, can you show me how you did that?”  “Hey, Sissy, can you help me on my iPad?  I can’t figure this out.”

Like many things into which it took me a while to make the plunge (like baby gates and preschool and big kid beds, to name a few), I’m so glad I took the leap and turned the girls on to technology when I did.  It hasn’t hindered their love of blocks and books and puzzles, and it’s challenged and engaged them on a whole new level.

Deprivation is the Mother of Invention

Years ago, I remember a neighbor talking about her sister.  She didn’t allow her children to have any type of toy guns or weapons, but she said that didn’t stop them from playing any number of cops and robbers and battle games.  “They used anything that was remotely shaped like a gun,” she recounted.  “A hair brush, a microphone, a stick…they made ‘guns’ from blocks and clay.”

I can’t remember the context of that conversation, but it stuck with me…thinking about kids’ ingenuity, their creativity, and their determination.  I also wondered if there was the lure of a “forbidden fruit” at play.  I didn’t know the details of that situation, but my guess is that there could have been, given the subject matter.

To date, our girls haven’t fashioned any guns.  As I type this, I’m wondering if they’ve ever even heard the word “gun”…but this little anecdote still came to mind a couple of weeks ago.

I don’t have a hard-and-fast rule, exactly, but so far I’ve shied away from electronic toys.  The girls’ kitchen makes a few sounds, and they have a couple of play phones that require batteries, but we otherwise don’t have any Leap Pads / iPads / iPods / electronic readers…I don’t even know the terminology.

It’s never been an issue…the girls don’t know they’re missing anything…so there’s no “forbidden fruit”…at least not yet.

(And I don’t intend to hold that line forever.  Of course I want my girls to have an appreciation for technology.  I know I would be doing them a huge disservice if I withheld it for too long.  I’m just trying to gauge the time that’s right for our family.)

Still, the girls see me on the computer, and they have long pretended to “type”, usually banging their fingertips on the trays of their high chairs.

Recently, Baby A took her game to the next level.  “Look at my computer!” she exclaimed one day.

She now assembles this configuration of puzzle boxes pretty regularly.  It cracks me up how intently she looks at the screen, the determination with which she pecks out emails.

And, not to be outdone, here is B’s version (since her sis had already claimed the coveted puzzle boxes this particular morning)…

The phrase “Necessity is the mother of invention” came to mind for me…but then I decided – in the case of our girls – maybe it’s more like “Deprivation is the mother of invention” in this instance.

Yes, my poor "deprived" children...HA!

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If you haven't entered my GIVEAWAY from Usborne Children's Books, I invite you to do so...it's open through Sunday, April 29...good luck!

The Meaning of Success

I hadn't planned to blog about this today...but sometimes circumstances arise, events happen, and my thought process is jarred.

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday.

I sit here typing on a Toshiba laptop, my [drug dealer-esque prepaid] cell phone buried somewhere at the bottom of my diaper bag. And as fate would have it, I just made a public admission on Wednesday afternoon to never having owned an iPod.

Although I'm not an Apple techie myself, I still have a profound respect for Steve Jobs as an amazing visionary.

I saw a quote last night from Steve Jobs that made me stop and think...

"We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."

Certainly the technology created under Jobs' leadership is revolutionary. I'm sure it will morph a million times over, even within our lifetimes, but his legacy will likely live for many, many generations to come.

That Jobs quote reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson, on the meaning of success...

"To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

Chances are I won't invent any revolutionary technology. And try as I may, I most likely won't go down in the history books as the world's greatest marketer of socks, underwear, packaged meat, or any category of consumables, for that matter.

But what I can do is give 100% of myself to my life. I can follow my passions. I can invest in my family and in those around me.

I believe I can make the world a little bit better...and I hope to instill that belief in my girls, too.

...and acting upon that belief will be to have succeeded.

I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours...

I admitted a couple of months ago that I'm really far from a techie.

The subject came up again a couple of weeks ago, when my computer decided to take a little vacation, leaving me and my bargain basement cell phone without an internet connection for almost a week.

Between the two admissions, Marcia and I had some dialogue about who had the lower-budget cell phone. She asked me if I'd be up for a little side-by-side comparison...so here 'goes...



[On the right is one of the girls' play phones, which I think is at least as technologically advanced as my cell phone, on the left.]

Marcia posted her picture yesterday, and I think it's safe to assume I won. (Sure wish this was a real contest, the prize being a new cell phone...HA!)

Actually, my prepaid "drug dealer phone" (as my friends call it) suits my needs just fine. It costs a whopping $15 a month for 300 minutes, which is far more than I ever use.

I know I would enjoy certain bells and whistles of a fancier phone -- namely being able to check in while I'm out and about -- but really, I just don't feel like I need to be any more "connected" than I already am. I think it would be far too big a temptation for me to increase my time on the 'net.

So for now I'll stick to my landline at home, my wireless internet connection for my laptop, and my $15 phone.

...but I will say I'm proud to have moved into the mid-90's recently...we just got caller ID at home! AND while my internet connection was down, I figured out how to send a text message on my phone.

Woo hoo...go me!!!

Wanna weigh in? How do your goods measure up??? Check out Marcia's link-up. (She's one of my faves, by the way...if you don't know her, well, you should!!!)