We finally gave in. And it's not just because it was the holidays. Well, we can find every excuse in the book including Mandarin killed my mobile phone: death by forceful throwing, but it's probably just because it is the holidays! A few weeks ago, our tech lives changed when two iPhones arrived on our doorstep. As it stepped into our home, my husband and I both stepped out into the present day. Possibly, the last of humankind to do so.
We don't live under a rock either, mind you. We're tech savvy, I know a pinch of code and my husband can pretty much figure his way through anything with specs and cables but the iphone to me always held an air of exclusivity - in which you are exclusively glued to it just like the rest of the world; an army of people huddled over the lucent sorcery this palm sized screen is capable of. So, for years my husband and I pretty much dodged it and favored no contract plans and so-so smartphones.
Until now. We bit into the Apple and re-awakened into a landscape of applications.
So there we were, two adults crossing the tech threshold. When you think about it, there is quite literally a world of applications and hidden fees out there. Will we transform into zombie game playing, application hoarding, email shooting, words-with-friends playing junkies? Quite possibly so. And thus, the absence.
Now that the honeymoon phase is over and this device is now just a phone that does pretty much everything else except kiss and nurture your child, the question that floats to the surface is: How does this gadget affect me as a parent? As a mother? There are far to many distractions as it is, I wouldn't want another piece of technology to take me away from spending quality time with my daughter, or teach her that a phone can babysit her all the time. Because we all know, it is capable of doing so: crowded restaurant + overwhelmed and hungry toddler = meltdown. Sometimes, you really just need to zone them into Zen.
So far, I've saved scraps of paper by using a grocery application, used Skype a multitude of times so Mandarin can see her Grandparents in Manila, and kept her from hysterically running after other children, (screaming and laughing with glee) at church on Christmas Eve by letting her watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Technology works.
However, when does it become too much tech for your toddler? I assume it's when you line up a book, your smartphone, a plush doll, and a sippy cup on a table and your child goes for the phone, and only the phone. Hand them the book, and they still go for the phone. As if they were choosing to suspend all other things for the glory of the gadget.
This really does concern me, not just as a parent but as a consumer who by experience knows that resistance is futile. You push a button and something opens and lights up. It is the very same simplicity that makes this device intuitive and alluring to both adults and young children. Although I feel extremely fortunate that Mandarin LOVES books and hope that she continues to find magic in between its pages well into her adult years, the reality is, children like her are born into this technology and will live and grow with it through the years.
You can see this in the isles of toy stores everywhere. While I do have a penchant for vintage toys and hope that Mandarin may someday find some sentimentality in that, she may not even know what a rotary phone is for and how it's even used!
It's all about pushing buttons, these days. Children love to watch and mimic adults so it's no surprise that there are toy versions of pretty much everything we use daily.
You can see this in the isles of toy stores everywhere. While I do have a penchant for vintage toys and hope that Mandarin may someday find some sentimentality in that, she may not even know what a rotary phone is for and how it's even used!
Mommy, what's vinyl?
Same company, just keeping up with the times.
My own mother comes to mind when there is talk of technology. After what seemed to be WAS a long decade of convincing, she finally agreed to learn how to email. She bought an ipad and thankfully no longer depends on other people to show her pictures of her granddaughter, or rather is no longer the last person in the family to see them. It was intimidating to her at first but with a slow and steady pace she's now attempted to walk through the app store and buy games. Meanwhile, across the Pacific her granddaughter, also new to technology, is eager, excited, and wildly curious about it - and the world around her too. It is for all those reasons why I feel as a parent I need to incite more creative play with her developmental toys, a very important part of their advancement as children.
Technology is no doubt a teachable platform that allows much room for education. It is a strict lesson on discipline both for parent and child. How far to give in and when to restrain, how much time to spend on it and when to set it down and get some sand in between your toes. Of course as parents we would want our children to be a step ahead and not behind, so as a compromise, I feel that if I was going to let her play with the phone while outdoors anyway, it might as well be used as a medium for education. I've listed a few applications I've found that may be useful tools for young toddlers.
10 Best Educational iPhone Applications for Toddlers
1. Flash Cards By Parents Magazine
2. Peek-a-Boo Barn Farm Animals
4. Interactive Alphabet ABC Flashcards
6. Grover's Number Special (Counting App for Toddlers)
7. Shape Builder Puzzle Game
8. First Words Series.
9. Sound Touch : Over 300 sounds and images
10. Dr. Seuss Books
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As a parent, I fear that she may suspend her innate ability to explore and her naturally curious mind by zoning in too much into the allure of LCD screens and high resolution images in the manner we do. Thus, the challenge. To lead by example, because that's what being a parent - being a mother is all about. Mandarin may (as a last resort) have her chance to discover the iPhone when we're out and about and there is a dire need to mollify her in a public area. As a general rule at home, we don't let her fiddle with our iPhones and try to keep it away from view as much as possible. She has too many more interesting things to play with. Music instruments, books, wooden blocks and toys, and dolls. I suppose this is our way of keeping a harmonious note of moderation in the media-laden age we live in.
This is my hope as a mother; that she steps out into the world well-balanced, educated, informed, independent and imaginative for creative play and that she knows how to happily keep herself busy with the ability to unplug herself from all the invisible wires that hold us captive.
This is my hope as a mother; that she steps out into the world well-balanced, educated, informed, independent and imaginative for creative play and that she knows how to happily keep herself busy with the ability to unplug herself from all the invisible wires that hold us captive.
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