An iPod Anecdote:

Snowed in one Tuesday, Sam repeatedly asked to watch her Barney show on the TV.  She persisted all day, but I still kept trying to distract her with other toys.  She then asked for the iPod, so I compromised and said we would take turns, and I would go first.  To my surprise, she did not protest and sat down beside me to patiently wait for her turn.  At one point I handed her the iPod and stood up to go to the bathroom.

I came back to find that she had flipped to the Netflix application, one I didn’t even know we had on there, clicked onto her Barney program, and was now watching the show I would not let her see on TV — from the iPod.  She looked up at me with this triumphant grin and said, “Barney Mommy!”

I was yet again, out-smarted by my 2-year old.

So I have to ask:  Is there still a parent in this world that will leave the house without an iPhone, an iPod, or an iPad in their bag for their kids?  They provide such an easy form of distraction no matter where you are, that I now wouldn’t know what to do without one.  These gadgets and all their content, can keep Sam in place for at least 45 minutes, which is generally enough time for me to peacefully get some food down without choking.

She first surprised us one day, at the age of 10 months, when she picked up my iPod and slid it open.  Since then it has been a part of her vocabulary, and one of her constant “toys”.  To date we have purchased several applications for her to learn and play with, the likes of Duck Duck Moose for instance.  She even plays popular games like Angry Birds, and Cut the Rope.  I don’t know about the motor skill and mental skill development, I hope there is progress in that area, but I do know that she is learning to emphatically say things like, “Bonk the pigs Dad! ” or “That’s a Bomb!  Don’t cut it!  It might explode!“, when playing Fruit Ninja with her Daddy.  Ahh, the new generation.

Apple, you have once again made yourself indispensable in our daily lives.  And at such a young age at that!  Congratulations.