I say Nay to the iPhone...

...for the under three crowd.

If the boob can't distract a baby from the iPhone, then NOTHING can

(btw, I don't own an iPhone so don't think this is me)

I was reading the NY times this Sunday and happened across this article:

Toddlers’ Favorite Toy: The iPhone

Was I surprised by the title? Not really.

I have a 4 year old niece and a 5 year old cousin (both girls) who are pros at using iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Each pretty much managed mastery from about 3 years of age. Because they're family I let it slide (sort of) that they're such mistresses of this technology. Thankfully they each still prefer human contact over i-Anything.

But there are kids who seem all too eager to trade the affections of their adults for time with 'a screen'. And by kid, I mean diaper wearing, toddling around baby type.

Now that I'm a parent, I get to voice an opinion that as an ex-nanny, ex-educator, ex-tutor, ex-a-lot-of-things-to-do-with-kids-roles didn't have enough street cred before.

Moms and dads, get real.

In this article, there are parents who go on about how smart their child is becoming from the games they play ALONE with these devices.

Um, babies and toddlers are programmed to mimic, to near perfection, what they see around them...it's how they learn, it's how they fit in, it's how they ensure their survival. All those cute smiles and coos they throw back at you aren't simply for their entertainment or yours. It's like biological insurance built in so they get fed, changed, snuggled with.

So, to say a child is exceptional because they are learning sponges and somehow demonstrate that, TOTALLY misses the point. Short of some seriously significant developmental issue, ALL babies have the same learning potential from day one. Of course that gets directed one way or the other based on the environment they're born into, but that's another can of very fat worms.

When a parent decides to hand over a $400 toy to their baby (yeah, think on that) so they can buy themselves a few minutes of time, well, that's exactly what they're doing.

Buying time.

The parent isn't educating in any sense of the word.

Maybe, MAYBE if you played with the phone with the baby that might count, but then again if you wanted to interact with your baby, would you use a $400 prop to do so? No way, you'd use cardboard boxes, plastic blocks, a hand puppet...you get my drift.

In this day and age of too-fast-for-fire-to-catch-it go, go, go, always plugged in, can't ignore the inbox chime or forget to set the DVR or whatever else catches your EMF fancy, time feels like the #1 thing nobody has enough of.

So, yeah, I totally get wanting to borrow a little bit from your baby.

Oh, I really get it (cue the violin) because I'm going on month nine with an average of six broken hours of sleep a night and about 5-10% privacy time during the day, so I know all about wanting to take some me-time.

But when I'm going to take that time, I'm honest with myself about it.

I don't hand over not-made-for-baby's-brains toy and say, "But look, it's educational. This really isn't about me."

Yes, yes it is...especially if your baby is under three.

Do you and your baby a favor and set down all EMF emitting devices. Open up that big swinging thing on the front of your house (i.e. the door) and step outside for five minutes. You might find offering your baby some undivided attention for a few minutes will do wonders when addressing the reasons you might feel compelled to hand over your phone.

Just a thought.

Peace,
A Pink American

PS My baby's napping right now, so I have this me-time to waste on this EMF emitting device. Thank you.