One Step Forward

When I was a kid, we had an Atari. I remember playing Pac-Man and Asteroids until my eyes crossed. As technology improved, things got more exciting. My sister and I got a Nintendo game system for Christmas one year. Super Mario Brothers, anyone!? It was the kind that hooked up to the tv and had remote controls with cords attached. Hours of entertainment, although the educational benefits were similar to watching a current presidential address. Absolutely no knowledge to be gained and you could possibly end up in a semi-comatose state.

All kidding aside, I am thrilled at how far technology has come now that I have kids of my own. We tend to be extremely conservative when it comes to technology and our kids. They are restricted to their television time (although they aren't really big tv watchers, thank goodness!) and we monitor what shows/movies they watch. There is absolutely no internet access unless we are there with them (researching for school, etc.) Cell phone and "smart phones" are out of the question at this age, although many of their friends are getting them already. It's hard to justify your reasons to a child when they see kids their age getting to do all of these things. One of the modern challenges of parenthood, I suppose.

We knew it was coming, and it is only a matter of time before technology becomes a part of their daily lives. Thanks to a great "Cyber Monday" deal, we took a HUGE step this Christmas and gave each of our girls a Kindle Fire. It is a "tablet" (for those of you who are technology savvy) and actually can be very educational. The girls had no idea they were getting one.  In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I heard from Lauryn a few times that several of her friends were asking for one. It was just matter-of-fact statements. She never came out and said she wanted one. 

They are both familiar with tablets, as they have iPads in their classrooms at school and use them on a daily basis. So I knew they would be surprised and excited as soon as they opened them :)

There are games, of course, but they also have books, educational apps, and of course the weather app. This was the most popular app of Christmas morning as we watched the snow storm travel across the state and finally reach us by mid-afternoon :) 

One main thing that eased our concerns and helped make it "doable" to take this step is that there is an option to disable the internet and email, which we obviously chose to do. As they grow up and become more responsible with those options, they can use these devices to do so many more things. I love that they can grow into it and will use it for many years to come! So much better than the "electronic" games we've gotten in the past where they grew out of them in less than a year.

 Playing with one of  her new games - a drawing app that is actually really amazing. I might have even snuck in some Kindle time for myself when they weren't looking! 

Santa brought each of the girls a bean bag. Allie thought it made an excellent place to get to know her Kindle.

We recently had our back porch covered, so Brent got me a porch swing to hang outside. It also makes a nice little reading spot :)

We've already had to put some restrictions on their new devices now that we're back in school. Of course, homework needs to be done first, as well as any piano practice/etc. They are doing very well with those limitations right now, and are great about putting them away when we ask them to.

So our journey into the world of technology has officially begun. It should be an interesting ride!