<p>eireann: Gross!</p>
<p>greenwitch: I didn’t quite believe you until I hit the Google. Were you perhaps referring to the “Laugh and Learn Apptivity Case”? For the love of God.</p>
<p>[A</a> slobber-proof iPhone case made for babies | Crave - CNET](<a href=“http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20104332-1/a-slobber-proof-iphone-case-made-for-babies/]A”>A slobber-proof iPhone case made for babies - CNET)</p>
<p>^^^ I bet it works for dogs too!</p>
<p>I was reading something the other day on the importance of being bored. Apparently, that is when most people get their most creative ideas. I feel bad for kids who have never learned to car ride without electronics. I love watching out the windows and seeing things.</p>
<p>Back to dogs, the small park by us is used by many dog owners and almost all clean up after their dogs. The park, however, had an article in the small local paper saying that it was against city ordinances, to place bags of dog poop in the garbage cans. There was no mention of dirty diapers which actually would be more harmful or even unbagged garbage. Anyways, no one apparently read the article because everyone throws the bags (which are provided by the park) away in the garbage cans.</p>
<p>sally305, you don’t sound old at all. This is apparently a really recent trend because when I was younger, I remember my friends and I being completely content with just barbies or jump ropes. I baby sit for family friends sometimes, and each of their children (ages 8, 6, and 2) has their own personal iPad. I was at the Apple store once and this little girl asked her mom for an iPad. The mother said “you already have this one” and the girl said (rather, whined) “but I don’t have the white one!” and proceeded to cry, stomp, and yell. My kids are getting only books, if they’re still available in ten years… :D</p>
<p>I was shocked when my sil bought her kindergartener an ipad for Christmas. The kids is completely unhinged so unless he’s hooked to an electronic game it’s awful to be around him.</p>
<p>Whereas I’m a huge proponent of being bored. Kids are over stimulated, overly scheduled and exposed to so much more nowadays. And I get I sound like the Pioneer Woman. </p>
<p>I also read up a lot about the value of the unscheduled child and time to be bored to then figure out how to occupy yourself and unleash your creativity.</p>
<p>If I were to go back and do it again - I think I’d only get my kids blocks, art supplies and scale way back on the plastic toys. Except of course the ez-bake oven - every kid needs to cook one cake by lightbulb in their lives.</p>
<p>Have you ever read Barbara Holland? She has a book called “Wasn’t the Grass Greener?” about the olden days (maybe the 50’s or so) and one chapter is called “idleness”. It’s just wonderful.</p>
<p>collegebound: you just made my day. But now I am fretting about how much my teenage daughter is glued to her iPhone…at least it’s not Facebook. My son, who is a college freshman, just informed me that he deactivated his Facebook account. I was really proud of him! He is definitely living in “real time” and I am sure you will too.</p>
<p>eyemamom: thanks for giving me second thoughts about the Ez-Bake. Ours is in the Goodwill pile right now (I’m not even sure they would take it). And I didn’t ask my daughter…she loves that thing and will probably kill me if I “disappear” it without her knowledge.</p>
<p>I’m probably the only female former child in America who didn’t have an EZ Bake oven. But I made up for it when my children had a creepy crawler maker. Same concept: Cooking with light bulbs. Unfortunately you can’t eat the creepy crawlers.</p>
<p>Funny how this comes up now. Am in the midst of cleaning out the basement. Have a huge pile of stuff to give away, and found the plastic tub full of creepy crawlers (I kept a handful, just because…) but couldnt get myself to give away the oven gizmo. Its still in a closet.</p>
<p>I guess it’s easier for moms to pack one ipad than the coloring books, crayons, books, games, toys that I used to pack!</p>
<p>I remember when I was little my mom packed a bag of stuff that got taken everywhere. Crayons, books, etc. i also remember letting crayons on the back seat of my dads car in the summer and them melting to the seat. I think that’s when crayons got removed from my bag… Lol.</p>
<p>I also remember at church they let kids pick up these bags to take in with them. They had crayons and papers and fun things related to each weeks sermon topics and such. This way they could focus on that stuff and still learn and behave. They don’t do that anymore and now when I’m there I see lots of kids misbehaving who talk throughout the whole thing or play on a phone.</p>
<p>I don’t have kids yet but some of my friends and family do so I have several toys and games here. They always want to go right got the wii… Can’t say I blame them as I loved my nintendo as a kid… But they can play Wii if they are still awake after we make pretty pictures or build with Legos, tinkertoys, and lumber logs. </p>
<p>We also play golf outside and walk too the park.</p>
<p>Kids miss behaving with no repercussion is something I’ll never understand. The other week some form that looked maybe ten or eleven was spinning in circles knocking into everyone at the grocery store and nobody told her to stop… She knocked several things down.</p>
<p>One aisle over some maybe four year old bumped something on a shelf when walking past it and it fell on my foot. He apologized before his mom could even say anything. At least there is some hope.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>
<p>
They used to make one where the critters were edible–I had one. They tasted terrible, though.</p>
<p>“Nobody told her to stop…”
I would have (not that it may have made any difference). When I was growing up adults weren’t as afraid to admonish other people’s kids if they were misbehaving. It certainly made life easier in many respects (that village thing). Now I think some of the parents have no clue about what constitutes acceptable behavior or how to achieve it. I never tolerated bad behavior from my kid’s friends in my home (they learned house rules) and consequently I’ve had lots of kids at my house over the years–pleasant kids who behave are fun to have around.</p>
<p>Providing entertainment for kids outside electronics takes a lot of energy and time. Face it–finger painting, art projects, playing games, going to a playground (and actually supervising) takes a lot of time and then you have to clean up afterwards too.</p>
<p>I don’t understand people who walk right out of the bathroom without washing their hands. At least pretend for my benefit</p>
<p>I have one from work. Every year we’ll have a couple of kids who confess to things they seem not to have done. Including pretty serious things. We had a kid stand up, in front of his entire grade level at an assembly and apologize for something that had happened on a day when he was absent. </p>
<p>I can understand lying to get of trouble, but not lying to get into trouble.</p>