iBoys
Wednesday, February 17th, 2016From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Jack and Tate’s grandmother gave them her old iPad last fall. My husband updated it and created an ID for the kids on our family share. Basically, he made sure the kids only have access to software and content WE approve of. He installed some kids games and educational software. We put it in a kid-proof case and came up with some ground rules.
First and foremost, there is no fighting over the iPad. Misbehaving children do not get to use the iPad. If you break these simple rules, the iPad will be donated to charity. The boys have actually been great at sharing the iPad and following the rules. When they did argue, we took it away from them and stuck to our guns as parents.
This week my husband was updating some Apps on the kids’ iPad when he decided to enable Facetime and iMessage so that the kids could follow him on his travels for work and even Facetime him all over the world. The boys immediately began to Facetime and iMessage their Dad and me, as well as their grandparents… at all hours of the day. It is cute to get an emoji-laden text from your kindergartener, especially when he tells you he loves you on Valentine’s Day.
However, a Facetime call while in a meeting and a nonsensical text message at 5:45 AM? Not so cute. So we have had to make some new rules for the iPad this week regarding appropriate iMessage usage and the why Facetime isn’t safe while driving. My husband opened Pandora’s box for our kids, but we are doing our best to help our kids adjust to a very connected world.
