Desperate Times

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I consider doctors appointments where my toddler gets a shot, my toddler’s hair cuts, and anything that causes my child to scream at inappropriate decibels to be a desperate time. My desperate measure? Allowing my little guy to play with my Droid (Google’s version of the iPhone). I’ve downloaded a variety of educational and entertaining apps that teach my son farm animals and their noises, let’s him finger paint on my phone, and allows him to play the piano. When the poop hits the fan, I hand him the phone. The one exception… if the screaming is because he wants the phone, he doesn’t get it. If I give in, my gimmick will fail. We can’t have that.

My other desperate time? Road trips. My kid does NOT sleep in the car. On regular days, this serves us well. On road trips this is a very bad thing. To make things more bearable, we borrow a portable DVD player that can be strapped to the back of the headrest. Insert a Yo Gabba Gabba or Wonderpets DVD and hit repeat. It may drive us crazy, but at least we’re driving, and without persistent screaming from the back seat. Once again, it works because it’s a novelty. We borrow this handy gadget, because it keeps us from using it as a crutch on shorter trips around town.

To my dear friend who loaned us this most delightful of gadgets. Thank you. You know who you are, but I certainly won’t call you out! You don’t need additional annoying friends pestering you for your DVD player!