The day my oldest asked for an IPad of her own, I laughed. She was about to be 5 & that’s what she wanted for her birthday. My husband, who is tightly wrapped around her finger, told her she could get one…I wanted to punch him in the face. I had allowed her to use mine from time to time. We put fun educational games on it for her to learn, but that was as far as I wanted to go, especially at only 5 years old.
So February 10th rolls around, my baby girl is 5…HOORAY 
She gets all kinds of fun toys & puzzles, because that’s what a 5 year old should get, except for her “big” gift from Mommy & Daddy (much to my protest)…a brand new IPad of her very own…It’s been ridiculous ever since.
She’s now six & a half & is obsessed with that thing! It’s the first thing she wants to use in the morning, as soon as she gets home from school & it’s all she wants to do from then until bed. It’s sick. *Quick PSA, I don’t actually allow her to be on it from sun up until sun down. Anyhow, I hate the damn thing so much. And now my 4 year old thinks my IPad is her own. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I actually used it.
They have everything from ABC Mouse, some counting & math games to a Hello Kitty nail salon game, Strawberry Shortcake necklace maker, Fruit Ninja, every single Toca Boca game they make & weird resturant/cooking games. And then there’s YouTube! If I took off every other app & just left YouTube, they would be perfectly content. I can’t for the life of me understand the fascination with watching OTHER kids play with toys…or better yet, creepy ass adults making silly voices, playing with the toys. And who knew it was so fun to watch hands (that’s all you see) opening egg after egg to reveal some small dumb toy. Yay…. 🙄
I could have an entire conversation with my kids & if they’re on their IPads they don’t hear a single thing I say. It’s like I’m not even in the room. So naturally we limit the amount of time they use them. It’s the first thing we take away as punishment, but let’s be honest, who are we really punishing when we do that? The kids or ourselves? I swear sometimes it’s punishment for the parents. You take away the IPad & suddenly your children have turned into whiny, nagging, loud & somewhat demonic creatures. Cry all you want. Slam the doors some more. Yell at me that I’m the meanest mom in the world…go ahead, knock yourself out. You still aren’t getting the IPad back. ::10 minutes later:: WHAT have I done?! Please for the love of God, just take the damn IPads & shut the hell up (I promise I don’t actually say that to them. Under my breath, yes). So why are these things so addicting? Why are they more fun than playing with actual toys? Or playing outside? Do kids even play outside anymore?!
On the upside, they have seemed to learn from the IPads whether it’s from the games or watching fun science experiments on YouTube but I fear if my house caught fire they seriously wouldn’t even friggin’ notice. It’s like they’re in a trance. Every day I threaten to throw them out the window…the IPads, not the kids. So tell me Mama’s, how do you limit IPad/IPod/Whatever else they are called time?
