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Like mother, like son
Jul. 18th, 2010 03:00 pmI finally caved in and got Charlie one of those Leapfrog fake laptop thingies. I avoid Leapfrog toys, for the most part, because they creep me out with features like saying your child's name to him/her and by disguising learning as play. Also they market a reading system that helps kids learn without an adult constantly reading to them, and I can't overstate how strongly I feel about the benefits of adults constantly reading to children (Although lately Charlie won't let me read to him because he wants to do it himself; he sits down and turns pages and goes "blah blah blah" in baby talk, which is so cute it about kills me). So I generally avoid their toys, and similar, in favor of low-tech stuff like plastic animals and hot wheels cars.
Anyway, Charlie appears to be a gadget addict--he's particularly interested in our laptop and in my Kindle. As in, I can never use the laptop in front of him, because he screams and jumps up and down wanting to play with it. He's a little better about the Kindle--I have a couple kiddie books on there for him, and as long as I let him click it for a little bit he'll go back to other stuff. But I started to feel like I was just being a mean grouchy Luddite mommy by not letting him play with more technology (we do watch TV with him--we're not total Luddites).
So I got him a "leaptop" which is a toy laptop that's not too obnoxious. I got him the pink-n-purple one, instead of the green-n-blue one, because that's what they had in stock at the toy store, so not only am I introducing my child to the evils of technology, but I'm creating gender confusion, oh noes! Because all toys must have gender. MUST HAVE GENDER! Did you know Fisher-Price makes a pink airplane? Because what will the world come to if girls play with the otherwise-identical white airplane? UNCLEAR GENDER ROLES that's what will come of that. Um. But I digress.
I gave him the laptop after he finished his lunch, and his little face lit up like it does when there is a train or a puppy in the vicinity. He LOVES it, and understood right away how to open it and what it was for. Doesn't want Mommy or Daddy to touch it, either - he'd go "no MINE!" (new word this week...thank you, kids at day care. *sigh*) if we tried to push a button or adjust the lid angle or any of that. I showed him how he could close it and carry it by the handle, so he reluctantly allowed us to change his diaper and let his dad take him out to the car to go visit Grandma--clutching the laptop the whole while.
I know it's a toy that's specifically designed to make kids react like little crack addicts as soon as they see it, but still it warms my technology-addled heart to see my son feeling the same way I do about gadgetry.
Anyway, Charlie appears to be a gadget addict--he's particularly interested in our laptop and in my Kindle. As in, I can never use the laptop in front of him, because he screams and jumps up and down wanting to play with it. He's a little better about the Kindle--I have a couple kiddie books on there for him, and as long as I let him click it for a little bit he'll go back to other stuff. But I started to feel like I was just being a mean grouchy Luddite mommy by not letting him play with more technology (we do watch TV with him--we're not total Luddites).
So I got him a "leaptop" which is a toy laptop that's not too obnoxious. I got him the pink-n-purple one, instead of the green-n-blue one, because that's what they had in stock at the toy store, so not only am I introducing my child to the evils of technology, but I'm creating gender confusion, oh noes! Because all toys must have gender. MUST HAVE GENDER! Did you know Fisher-Price makes a pink airplane? Because what will the world come to if girls play with the otherwise-identical white airplane? UNCLEAR GENDER ROLES that's what will come of that. Um. But I digress.
I gave him the laptop after he finished his lunch, and his little face lit up like it does when there is a train or a puppy in the vicinity. He LOVES it, and understood right away how to open it and what it was for. Doesn't want Mommy or Daddy to touch it, either - he'd go "no MINE!" (new word this week...thank you, kids at day care. *sigh*) if we tried to push a button or adjust the lid angle or any of that. I showed him how he could close it and carry it by the handle, so he reluctantly allowed us to change his diaper and let his dad take him out to the car to go visit Grandma--clutching the laptop the whole while.
I know it's a toy that's specifically designed to make kids react like little crack addicts as soon as they see it, but still it warms my technology-addled heart to see my son feeling the same way I do about gadgetry.
