Baby J video chatting with his Uncle
I did it. It was something I told myself I was never going to do. I bought Baby J an iPod Touch. I was always under the impression that I would never be that kind of mother. Well, here I am.The reason that I didn't want to get him one is simple. I don't want him going through life thinking he has to be entertained by electronics instead of his own imagination. This mentality will set him up for a lot of failure and an unhealthy view on life. I don't want him to be 40 years old and still living in my basement with nothing but a cupboard full of Ramen Noodles, a fridge full of Pepsi, and a computer.
So onto the reason why I did get him the device.
We travel a lot. Plain and simple. Every week we travel three hours to a job site and three hours back. Most every weekend we visit Baby J's grandparents that live an hour away. To go anywhere besides grocery shopping, we have to travel at least thirty minutes. That is a lot of time for him to be in the back seat by himself.
I used to sit back there with him, but I get carsick and it was taking a toll on me. And traveling at night so he can sleep while we drive is getting exhausting.
We just got it and he already loves it! We didn't get him the case yet so he can't really play with it as of right now. He does however hold it up to his ear and try to talk on it. He even got to video chat with his uncle this afternoon!
Daddy J has loaded his favorite Dr. Seuss books onto it and we will be putting Sesame Street on there. (Be looking for a future post about what shows we let him watch and why.)
If you follow my blog regularly, you will probably notice that I post "what I learned from this experience" type of things a lot. I am learning so much as a new mother. It is amazing!
This is what I learned from this experience. You can NEVER predetermine what you will do with your baby. Don't even try. Every baby and every circumstance is different.
If we didn't have this job that was so far away, the thought of buying him this expensive device probably wouldn't have even crossed our minds. But it has now and we did what we thought was the most compassionate thing to do. Give the kid some entertainment! It is compassionate to ourselves as well. Those car rides are the only time Daddy J and I have to reconnect and have some fun talking and laughing.
For now, he will only be using it in the car. When he is someplace where he can interact with people or play with toys, I want that to be what he does. It will not be used as a babysitter, nor will I use it to calm him down. That is definitely not the message I want him to receive.
I realize it looks like I am explaining my actions here. I am not. I'm hoping that some other mother who is torn by considering doing something a little out of the "normal" parenting realm might see this and be encouraged. Follow what you think is right, even if it is something you thought you would never do. Be flexible enough to change with the circumstances, but not so flexible that you go against your core beliefs.
My eight month old owns an iPod Touch. You know you are jealous.
Have you done anything as a parent that you thought you never would do?
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