My iPad has been taken over!

[jsbaugh]

I got the ipad the day it came out and it took about 2-3 days before my 3 year old was all over it. She would scream murder if I tried to take it from here so I just gave it to her and got my self another. I will say that it taught her colors and how to count, so its not all bad.

 

[Kestrel452]

I got the ipad the day it came out and it took about 2-3 days before my 3 year old was all over it. She would scream murder if I tried to take it from here so I just gave it to her and got my self another. I will say that it taught her colors and how to count, so its not all bad.

One or more things is going on here:

1) You're rich and don't care (which is fine).
2) You're a pushover
3) You don't care about enabling a child's entitlement attitudes

 

[Kestrel452]

Using internet threads like this to jump in and shove your parenting methods down other people's throats and make them feel like bad or weak parents DOES make you a parenting nazi in my book. It's the tone some of you are taking with the OP that's bugging me. No need at all to be like that. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs anyone can undertake, and it's really freaking painful to get jumped on by other people passing judgment. Please, have a little respect.

I don't understand why that would be being a parenting nazi. If someone posts their situation online asking for advice, and some of that advice happens to be something along the lines of "No no no, you're doing it wrong. This is how i feel would be the best way to do it".

If you put yourself out there for people to critique, expect to take some hits. It's immature to expect people to not have different views and attack your own. It's how the world works, pal.

 

[reckless2k2]

One or more things is going on here:

1) You're rich and don't care (which is fine).
2) You're a pushover
3) You don't care about enabling a child's entitlement attitudes

Wow, that's harsh. On a message board none the less. That would be a first.

 

[reckless2k2]

I don't understand why that would be being a parenting nazi. If someone posts their situation online asking for advice, and some of that advice happens to be something along the lines of "No no no, you're doing it wrong. This is how i feel would be the best way to do it".

If you put yourself out there for people to critique, expect to take some hits. It's immature to expect people to not have different views and attack your own. It's how the world works, pal.

Agreed. The OP asked advice. People are offering opinions on how to help the OP. People have differing opinions. He will digest it and probably do whatever he feels like anyway. Hahaha.

 

[redman042]

"No no no, you're doing it wrong. This is how i feel would be the best way to do it"

I wish that's how a lot of people worded their responses, and I wouldn't have had an issue with that. But that's 100x mellower than the actual responses people gave, like "grow a pair", "just say no, how hard is it", and "your kids are going to grow up with a sense of entitlement and get in trouble with the law".

The OP asked for advice, not for a bunch of know-it-alls to come in here and try to make him feel like s**t.

Anyway, we're going in circles here. You feel it's within your rights to pass judgment on his parenting in a blunt way. I think it's rude, and I'm letting you and the others know that. I'll just leave it there. I'm done.

 

[alhajis]

Shhhhh...

I got the ipad the day it came out and it took about 2-3 days before my 3 year old was all over it. She would scream murder if I tried to take it from here so I just gave it to her and got my self another. I will say that it taught her colors and how to count, so its not all bad.

Shhhhh? The Nazi parents are around! Let's hope they don't come after you for what you did.

 

[Fulcrom]

Really? This will only get worse

As a dad off two grown boys 21 and 18 if you don't take control of this now you will pay later I bet at first you were thinking this was cute may have even invited friends to watch your child play games on your pad, be a parent now and take control of the kid . There may be a good learning moment to get the kid interested in something he may be the next steve job u never know but you still has to be a parent or that talent will be miss directed my 2 cents

 

[eshroom]

Put a Password on it, or act like the man of the house and say "This is only for grown ups, you can have one when your older"

That's not very nice. I'd do that with my espresso maker, but the kid's obviously learning a lot with the iPad. I say put the racing apps in locked folders for you to use and load it with some good old educational games for him to use, perhaps the "less fun" apps will encourage him to use it less often too!

 

[Nhwhazup]

I have a 2 year old granddaughter that absolutely loves my iPad. She loves the Shape Builder puzzles, coloring apps and the Wheels on the Bus. As much as she loves playing with my iPad, I have no problem taking it away from her when it's time to do something else. It has been as simple as that - when it's time, I take it away and put it up.

And oh by the way, guess what the family wants as a Christmas present this year - their own iPad. My PC, anti-Apple, non fanboy IT manager, son-in-law actually wants an iPad. I love it. It'll be worth it to see him with an Apple product. Hehe.

 

[unixfool]

I've a 5 year old that tries to do the same thing. The answer is NO. Kids are heavy-handed and iPhones, iPods, and iPads are too expensive for kids of that age to be playing with. I've caught my son throwing an iPod across the room...sorry, I can't allow that. He's not allowed to touch them. If he cries about it, he goes to his room to cry it out. He'll go hoarse before I give in.

It's a learning and boundary issue. If you don't get it sorted out, you (and he) are gonna have other issues later on.

Keep the iPad locked. Keep it out of reach and/or out of sight. I'll hide the iPod from my son and as long as he doesn't see it, he's OK (out-of-sight, out-of-mind)...its a Jedi mind trick for fathers. Or, buy him a Leap product (LeapPad) as a distraction (plus, that's probably the better education tool anyways). We did that and now he barely asks for any iProduct. Another thing he does is instead of asking me now, he asks his mom (she easily caves)...I had a WTF moment with the wife and now we're in synch.

The bottom line for me is that what's mine is mine. If I'd wanted my kid to have it, I'd have given it to him outright. Besides, 2-yr-olds shouldn't have fragile electronics (good grief, we're still trying to determine if radio waves are causing cancer...do you honestly want your kid messing with such items at so young an age?). And the ultimate is that if he's controlling you like that now, you're going to be facing serious issues later. You're basically giving it to him so that he doesn't cry. As soon as he learns that that won't work, he'll change his tactic or lose interest.

 

[redman042]

I'll hide the iPod from my son and as long as he doesn't see it, he's OK

That works as long as the OP never wants to use his iPad when his kid is around. But that could kinda suck. Also he said he likes sharing the device with his child, he just wants to limit it.

2-yr-olds shouldn't have fragile electronics

It depends. They certainly shouldn't have them unsupervised. It's not something you hand to them and walk away. But I don't think the OP is suggesting that. It's not what I do either. I enjoy the iPad with my daughter. I sit with her and share it, and I enjoy seeing her use it and learn from it. When she starts mistreating it, I correct her right away, and she learns from that. And when I'm ready to move on, I take it away.

A lot of the time when kids start throwing things and acting out, it's to get attention. When parents pay attention to the child and get involved, it will happen a lot less. Parents who just hand gadgets to kids and walk away are kind of asking for it.

(good grief, we're still trying to determine if radio waves are causing cancer...do you honestly want your kid messing with such items at so young an age?)

The whole house is flooded with radio waves so I don't think taking away the iPad is really going to help all that much. If it's really such a threat, us parents shouldn't be using the devices either. Our kids need us around.

 

[redman042]

I have a 2 year old granddaughter that absolutely loves my iPad. She loves the Shape Builder puzzles, coloring apps and the Wheels on the Bus.

To paraphrase Steve Jobs, it's rather "magical" to watch such a young child enjoy the iPad, isn't it? It's a device that never gets boring, is totally intuitive for even a young child, and does a great job of teaching. Plus it makes an excellent pacifier in a pinch (at a restaurant or whatever).

I couldn't imagine NOT enjoying my iPad with my daughter. It's just so cool. We had NOTHING like this when I was a kid.

I've found myself passing up those Leapfrog gadgets at Target because "they just aren't good enough for her" when compared to an iPad. She wouldn't want to stoop to a pen based input and laggy interface after having spent so much time with the iPad... ha ha

My PC, anti-Apple, non fanboy IT manager, son-in-law actually wants an iPad. I love it. It'll be worth it to see him with an Apple product. Hehe.

I think the people who express the most hate secretly want the iPad. Their logical side can't describe why one would want to spent $500 or more on a device that can't do half the things a "proper laptop" can do, yet it just has this appeal that is undeniable. Even 6 months after the iPad hit the market, I still get lots of looks in public when using it, and lots of attention at work. That says something...

Once your son-in-law gets his iPad, he will be converted. I guarantee it.

 

[unixfool]

That works as long as the OP never wants to use his iPad when his kid is around. But that could kinda suck. Also he said he likes sharing the device with his child, he just wants to limit it.

Nope. It's a beginning. As the iPad is used less when around the child, it becomes less of an issue. Later, as the adults want to use the iPad, the child is less used to crying about it. Kids are habitual. Break the habit and they become more manageable. It doesn't sound like the OP is actually enjoying anything about the child when it coms to the iPad. Didn't he say the he let's the child use it so that the kid doesn't cry. That doesn't sound like enjoyment.

A lot of the time when kids start throwing things and acting out, it's to get attention. When parents pay attention to the child and get involved, it will happen a lot less. Parents who just hand gadgets to kids and walk away are kind of asking for it.

Throwing and temper tantrums are more than just issues of attention. It means that the kid is used to having his/her way. It's called being spoiled where I come from.

The whole house is flooded with radio waves so I don't think taking away the iPad is really going to help all that much. If it's really such a threat, us parents shouldn't be using the devices either. Our kids need us around.

Errmm. No. Developing children are more affected by things like that than an adult would be. Same with second hand smoke. That's also why it affects adults less (we're already developed).

I don't really care for the lecturing tone, either. I've got three kids with a seven year spread between the oldest and youngest. I was a home father for 5 years with most of that time with mom being deployed...my methods may not work for everyone but they definitely work for me. We can share opinions without the lecturing attitude.

 

[Nhwhazup]

I actually enjoy sharing my iPad with my Granddaughter and my kids. I have purchased so many apps specifically for them. For me that's one of the best things about having the iPad is sharing the educational apps and games. When my 2 year old granddaughter uses it, she knows that she has to sit down in the chair and cannot walk around with it. She also knows when her turn is up she has to give it up. We've handled it that way from the beginning and have had no temper tantrum or possession issues with it. Of course we set limits with it. Zoe is a champ with puzzles though. She started using the Shape Builder app just before she was two and now is doing regular box puzzles at the 6-8 yr. old level. She also likes to color with my stylus which teaches her good hand dexterity. She is bilingual and so many apps also have dual languages which is great.

My other daughter who is not a mom but a special ed teacher wants an iPad for Christmas to work with her kids at school. There are so many learning games that she will use as a treat for getting the regular work finished. So my Christmas list is pretty easy this year - 2 iPads and iTunes gift cards. I can't think of better gifts for them. And after my trip to the Apple store, I'm all done.

So I guess my whole point to this post is that I fully support using the iPad as a learning tool in a responsible way for kids of all ages. The whole entitlement issue is not going to be brought on by using an iPad. Raising children is so personal. My husband and I have two wonderful grown up
daughters and raising them was a joy and remarkably easy. Our approach was to give them our time and while we might have indulged them a bit with some material things, there were also strict rules with responsibility. Both girls have been totally independent since college days, earning their way through the process and never had entitlement expectations. And the purchase of the iPads this year for Christmas is certainly not an expectation of either daughter. In fact, both are going in on the price of the iPads with me for each other.

 

[Saturdays]

Learn to share hehe. Or just wait for iPad 2 to come and give him yours then indefinitely.