I would exclaim to my friends that no
matter how stressed or busy I got, I would always instill a sense of social
etiquette in my children. Games were to be played at home or at friend’s
houses. When we were out and about it would always be about social interaction.
Boy, how my opinions have changed! Max is
now 14 months old and I am more on edge than ever before, when he is needy,
whiney, whingey and cranky. My mother-in-law tells me how most people
understand and accept that toddlers often make a lot of disruptive noise, but I
still feel the stares of irritated people when my son exclaims his tiredness at
the top of his voice whilst we’re in the checkout line at Woolies.
So my solution? I have 5, yes 5 episodes of
Bananas in Pyjamas on my iPhone. They are my saviour! He absolutely and utterly
adores the Bananas and their funny antics. They are each exactly 12 minutes
long and he is captivated for the full 12 minutes of every episode.
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| Feeling poorly but happy, tucked up in mum's bed |
A girlfriend of mine in the UK is taking
her three children to Disneyland in France next week. It’s a seven-hour trip,
in one car, with an 8 year old, a 6 year old and a 3 year old. How is she going
to do it? Jo has the DVD players, the DS game controls, and the ipods charged
up and at the ready. A lesson in poor social interaction with their parents? I
think not. More like a pure act of survival of the sane.
In a world where we teach our baby boomer
parents how to use a mobile phone and send text messages, in a few years time
it will be our little ones teaching us how to use the latest technological
gadgets. My thinking is that I am preparing Max for his future. A life of
visiting his mum to set up her IT needs!
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| Dad, you need to press THIS button, see? |
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a message!
Yikes.. I'm the same with kids on the DS out and about, but if you've leant towards "the dark side" and let them play, I probably will eventually do the same when my boy is older! We already play a few giggle n hoot youtube vids when he gets cranky in the car.
ReplyDeletePs. I've been to Euro Disneyland and it is glorious. I still have nightmares of their rollercoaster :-)
- tork
It's well worth it Tork just to keep your sanity! I might check out Giggle and Hoot. I'm so over Banana's in Pyjamas!
DeleteSo true Mel. I have a couple of games on my phone for Jensen and we play The Wiggles on long trips in the car. It's all about keeping your sanity.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree! I'm not sure if Max is old enough for the Wiggles yet, but how awesome is technology now that we have these things at hand for whenever they're grumpy?! I hope Jensen doesn't need them too often!
DeleteIsabelle loves looking at photos of herself on my iphone, she even scrolls through the reel (has been known to delete some by accident though :-( ) Technology is such a part of our lives that to totally restrict access to our little ones makes little sense especially when all they want to do is copy what mum and dad do... its the same learning process as when we were their age, except the "toys" they get to play with are a little bit cooler! Belinda
ReplyDeleteRemember the good old Atari's? You couldn't have them out and about with you though. Imagine what technological toys our grandkids will be playing with!
Deletelol, join the club, I figure it's just the way of the world. I feel better knowing that wherever I'm going other children are doing the same. I've got enough other things I beat myself up about. lol.
ReplyDeleteFirstly I must say, your Max looks very cute! The one bit that hits home is the baby boomers and sending texts! My mum has to have the best mobile, not sure why as she rarely uses it, but every time she gets one, she has to bring it over to my husband for him to show her how to use it. When she goes home (back to Qld) she forgets everything she has learnt! She has trouble hitting the accept call for some reason, and will simply ring me back when I call! :)
ReplyDeleteI reckon the frustration I feel now, is what my two kids will probably feel about me in the future. I am very tech savvy. It I am sure their knowledge with surpass mine, and I will get too old to care, but I will continually be asking Zara and Max to do something for me! :)