Monday, April 24, 2006
Our Little Technophile
They say that kids grow up fast. Well, 'they' couldn't be more right. This week, Emily Anne has revealed her curiosity and capacity for techknowledge.
Lately we've noticed Em's curiosity increasing rapidly. And instead of squelching it, we've tried to work with it to help her and us both.
The prime example was with the DVD player. You see, this is the only component of our entertainment system that is low enough for her to reach. We have in the past forbade her from touching the device. Our verbal warnings and punishment have just not been able to contain her urges. So instead, while Meg was feeding the little dude and Em asked to watch another Baby Einstein video, Meg directed her in what to do.
It's amazing how good Em's hearing seems to be when taking instruction like this, especially compared to the apparent impairment she has when we're prodding her upstairs to bed.
In short, she can now almost fully operate the DVD player on her own. Here's what she does:
Goes to the DVD cabinet and picks out the desired video.
Opens the case and removes the disk, careful to touch the ends and middle only (well, mostly)
Presses the Open/Eject button
Pops the disk into the tray
Presses the Play button
And then when she reads the cues citing the movie's end, she repeats the process in reverse and turns the DVD player off.
What an amazing kid!
Pretty soon she'll be programming widgets for my website. Who knew parenting could pay off so quickly! :)
They say that kids grow up fast. Well, 'they' couldn't be more right. This week, Emily Anne has revealed her curiosity and capacity for techknowledge.
Lately we've noticed Em's curiosity increasing rapidly. And instead of squelching it, we've tried to work with it to help her and us both.
The prime example was with the DVD player. You see, this is the only component of our entertainment system that is low enough for her to reach. We have in the past forbade her from touching the device. Our verbal warnings and punishment have just not been able to contain her urges. So instead, while Meg was feeding the little dude and Em asked to watch another Baby Einstein video, Meg directed her in what to do.
It's amazing how good Em's hearing seems to be when taking instruction like this, especially compared to the apparent impairment she has when we're prodding her upstairs to bed.
In short, she can now almost fully operate the DVD player on her own. Here's what she does:
And then when she reads the cues citing the movie's end, she repeats the process in reverse and turns the DVD player off.
What an amazing kid!
Pretty soon she'll be programming widgets for my website. Who knew parenting could pay off so quickly! :)
