My Daughter’s Favorite Toy? The Kindle
By Glinda
Sad, isn’t it?
Sure my daughter likes to pretend to feed her dolls, build amazingly tall block towers, and terrorize the neighborhood in her Cozy Coupe, but no toy evokes the frenzied response of an addict quite like the Kindle.
It has been quite disconcerting to observe the ease in which she has figured out all of the electronic devices in our home. She was doing things on my cell phone that I didn’t even know it was capable of doing. And far too easily she learned how to slide the little arrow over to unlock the Pandora’s box that is our Kindle.
Of course there is nothing bad on it, as it is primarily for our son, but I can’t help but think I am somehow neurologically altering her by exposing her to the Kindle. That I am betraying thousands of years of evolution just to make my life a little easier.
But it is sometimes the only thing that will keep her sitting in one place for more than five minutes. And I have to admit, it isn’t a foolproof method either, as I found out at our year end meeting with our homeschool educational advisor. I don’t normally take her to my son’s educational meetings, but this time I had no choice, and it turned out badly for all involved. When the advisor turns to you and tells you that she will be praying for you and your strong-willed daughter to get through this difficult period, it definitely gives you pause.
Maybe I am the one who is addicted to the half hour or so of quiet that I get when she sits with the Kindle.
If there’s a 12 Step program for it, I’ll be the first to sign up.
But for some reason, I think I’m not the only parent who cheats a little with the ease of today’s electronics.
Well, if I’m wrong, then just go ahead and lie in the comments to make me feel better.
June 5th, 2012 at 10:28 am
I am mean and I don’t like to share my toys. I am a bad example I know, but it always annoys me when I see kids with a better cell phone ect than I have. My kindle is for mommy only and heaven help you if you even look at it. I might share if I ever get anything better.
June 5th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
I struggled for years (with my husband) to keep electronics away from our boys. I knew once they were introduced it would be a slippery slope. I was actually successful in keeping the introduction age appropriate for my older son (who started with the Leap Frog products). My younger son started with those same toys but the duration was MUCH shorter. Now my 10 year old has his own iPad. My older son is content with an iPhone (he’s 13). The peace in the house that is provided by letting them play uninterupted with these devices is definately guilt producing (I still limit access to both devices) but I do it anyway for that quiet time when I know they won’t be trying to mess with each other or set the house on fire.
June 6th, 2012 at 5:05 am
I can’t wait for my daughter to be old enough for a Kindle. She does not sit still in front of the TV and I could really use 10 to 15 minutes of downtime every once in a while.