iPad

iPad, I love you, although I'm not sure at this moment whether I love you more or I actually love my Mac Book Pro more. Nevertheless, I do love you.

I've been wanting to buy an iPad months before it was actually available in the market. Truth is, I still haven't bought one yet despite iPad 2 has already made its presence months now and rumor has it that iPad 3 is not far on the way.

My lovely sister got one, lent it to me and my kids saying that she doesn't really use it much. For whatever reason, I love her for it and loath her for it. For almost 2 years, I've been doing my best to avoid exposing my kids to TV and other media. I've found that people who watch a lot of TV, on the computer a lot or other media, tend to be less patient and seem to be more deaf, literally. They LISTEN less, have less eye contact, and have less distinctive individual personalities. Myself included, of course.

I had hope to raise the twin stars with as little influence from the media as possible. It was a very hard job, especially because I am addicted to my Mac Book Pro or most gadgets actually, and other people in my life do not share my understanding of the matter. Sigh... My kids always want to play with my cameras, always taking virtual photos, always talking about laptops, recently all they ask for is the iPad!

We fight of course. Oh...we've fought so many times over the iPad.

The question is, should I return the iPad to my sister and hope to persuade my kids ( and myself) that the iPad is really not necessary in our lives, and try to go back to the previous lifestyle where media was avoided as much as possible? Seriously, kids and myself included, are less interested in working with our hands, making crafts or even reading a real book like before. Oh how I used to love reading books, real books! And my kids have been raised reading 7-10 or even more books every night before we go to bed. Now? All they talk and fight about before bed is " When is it my turn to use the iPad?" or WORSE! " Where's the iPad" the first thing they say after opening their eyes in the morning. Sigh...

Raising independent kids

I'm not sure if the title of the blog fits what I'm about to write.

My little twin stars are now 1 month to turning 4. Time flies, i'm already missing the NOW THEM watching them grow bigger, taller and smarter every day.

My husband and I bought them a twin stroller that is the front and back type. We used the stroller for several months and put it in the store when the twins began to show their dislike being pushed around. They were a year and a half then. Since then, I have tried to avoid going shopping or anywhere that requires a lot of walking with them. My back just couldn't do it. Whenever we had to, my husband would usually volunteer to carry them both. I pitied him but he seemed happy doing it other than his frequent requests for a back massage before bed.

Since then, I've been training my daughter to walk on her own whenever we went shopping. Surely she would tire easily, I would then pick her up to let her rest and then tell her after a while that mummy's back was hurting carrying her so she would have to walk. It was the same with my son. No doubt, it was not easy in the beginning because they were so small then, but after a while, they got used to it. Nevertheless, I couldn't help feeling bad every time I let them down and told them to walk. It didn't help when other toddlers were being pushed around in strollers by their mummies or daddies. What they didn't know was, many people were very impressed seeing them walking on their own, holding my hand, sometimes carrying small and light shopping bags.

I haven't thought about this for a long time, but lately this thought keeps coming back. Was I being to harsh on my children? I've seen many, and I mean MANY parents pushing their children around in strollers, and some of these children are no longer toddlers, they looked like four or five-year-olds. I have also seen a five-year-old being carried on the back of the maid. ( I knew his age because I know the parents and we were together then.)

So the question is, have I been too harsh on my kids? Was it the right thing to do?