They’ve picked up the “slide” motion using a single finger with precision but they can’t figure out how to get a handful of peas to their mouths without becoming a human garbage heap.
If I can start by just stating the obvious: Oliver was doomed from the beginning to be a baby obsessed by buttons and screens. Obvious – to those who know them at least – because Mommy (Karen) has a Masters degree in computer programming, and Daddy (Mike) is a techno-obsessed musician, dj, photographer and all-around gizmo-lover. Collectively, there must be well over 2 dozen ( maybe even 3- ) computers, tablets, phones, music mixers, TVs, cameras, games, remote control devices and kitchen appliances in their home — all featuring buttons, screens and instant gratification.
Mike took a FLIP video of Oliver just seconds after his birth. In it, you can see newborn Ollie’s big brown eyes tracking the camera lens and an expression on his little face that seemed to say “Ooo! What’s that?!” We were all at once amazed, in love, and hit with the shock of knowing that at birth this child had revealed his interest so clearly.
But we know that we are not alone in raising a technology obsessed baby! It’s the way of the world these days, isn’t it? Babies not even crawling yet have been observed playing with their parents’ iPhones or tablets and using all of the correct motions to change screens. Which begs another question: they’ve picked up the “slide” motion using a single finger with precision but they can’t figure out how to get a handful of peas to their mouths without becoming a human garbage heap?? That one we’ll leave for another time. For now, please know that we are with you, oh parents of toddlers demanding computer time! And we have some thoughts, observations, ideas, unanswerable questions, and lots of compassion.
Susan – Early Childhood Specialist, and Grandma
