So after my long post about commuting with the boys and how I don't let William watch videos but instead we talk and interact during our ride to and from work, I think I have to eat a little crow. William has since discovered--or realized--that he can watch Backyardigan episodes on my iPhone.
I have used this feature of my iPhone before when trying to distract William and keep him quiet (especially at the doctor's office), but handing him the iPhone in the car is a whole new venture. I don't remember exactly how he came to have the iPhone in the car (or what possessed me to hand him this $300 toy), but he actually managed to stumble across the episodes on his own, and I got a quiet and relaxing ride home. Wow--was that nice! Since then, I've used it sparingly, only when William has been so cranky (or I've been so cranky) that conversations threaten to devolve into shouting matches, arguments, or tears. But my goodness, it's like a little slice of heaven to drive into work or home from work with no one demanding my attention, and time to just think. This is, of course, if Seth falls asleep. If Seth is awake, my attention is still diverted. But it's a lot easier to deal with one demanding child than with two!
By allowing William to "watch" the iPhone occassionally, I run the risk of having him ask for it ALL THE TIME. Toddlers are like that--if you do something twice, it might as well be written in stone. So I've really been using it sparingly. But still, it feels like I'm cheating. However, I'm over it. Everything in moderation, right? And anyway, when he's done watching a video, he just plays with the iPhone, and that keeps him entertained, too. This morning he figured out how to use the camera. And he's also found a few games that Ed has downloaded. I'm amazed that he can navigate around the thing like he can, but that's one of the reasons I really wanted an iPhone--it's so intuitive! "I'm an iPhone and I'm almost 3!" (That's a take-off of one of the Microsoft commercials, in case you missed it.) My next goal is to get him to wear the headphones while he watches so I can listen to NPR. After that, I need to figure out what to do with Seth!
4 comments:
I saw an iphone app recently that was the keypad on a phone so they could pretend to dial without actually dialing.
Let me look it up and get back to you. I think it was on ParentHacks.com
Some call it cheating...others call it pure genius. Same result, one just involves less guilt than the other.
Awesome! I laughed aloud reading this one! We all need breaks. We need breaks from the insistent "Mommy, mommy, can I ask you something?" William is one bright guy!
As always, you make sure not to mislead us. It makes me laught because we try not to let LMJ watch too much TV but don't ask me how many Sesame Street Podcasts she watches each day. Pod? Pod?
Missing you. :)
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