I Win! For a Few Minutes Anyway...

Ben and I are constantly at war over the technology in the house.  He wants it and I want to protect it from his destruction and also be able to enjoy the amenities I am so attached to.  I rarely have this computer opened anymore because he had pulled it onto the floor several times, chewed on the monitor and he mashes the keyboard whenever he gets a chance.  If I have to have it open I end up perched on the arm rest of the couch while balancing the computer on my knees while he whines and reaches for it.  The TV remote continues to be a obsession even though he has two old remotes to play with.  Nothing compares to the real thing.  And of course, my phone is a popular target even though he has two obsolete phones to play with as well.  And then...there is the most special treasure, an item he yearns for...the iPad.  It doesn't help that the iPad is also within my reach if not in my hands almost constantly if we are at home.  And if a baby decides to throw it on the floor, step on it, spill on it, or get some sort of fluid on it a replacement will not come cheap. 

 

I had a fabulous idea this morning.  I was reading the lastest blizzard related stories from Eastern ND (my parents came home from Mexico last night and it took them over two hours to make a 70 mile drive North of Fargo) and Ben was standing at my knees reaching and lunging and whining for the iPad.  I should point out that he rarely uses it for screen time and instead just likes to hold it, drop it, and chew on it.  I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I slipped it out of its protective case and gave it to Ben.  And he played with it for awhile! 

 

 

Oh...never mind...he's bored with it already...where is the real thing? 

 

I sometimes wonder, as I sit surrounded by my beloved technology, none of which existed when I was Ben's age, what new advancements will he see in his life?  It is strange to think that he will probably never remember phones with cords or computers and TVs that aren't two inches thick as opposed to two feet.  I don't want him to become a total screen fiend but does he stand a chance when both of his parents are just that?  I already know it will be one of my parenting challenges.