“I’m checking my email,” announced Gatito, holding his travel aquadoodle like a laptop in the bath.
“Oh?” I asked. “What does it say?”
Cheerfully: “25!”
Then sadly: “Mommy Daddy put my green ‘puter away.”
Damn. We got that thing for Christmas and then realized he was too young for it and we didn’t want him to spend a ton of time banging around on it. We put it away, but apparently, two months later, he’s still thinking about it. He sounded so piteous.
I haven’t spent much time with the computer, so I actually don’t really know how to do even the most basic things with it. But this evening, I got it out for Gatito. It didn’t really matter that I didn’t know how to use it (I could barely open it!) because Gatito was not about to let me get my mitts on it anyway. Somehow, he managed to open the music application, Tam Tam and start making music. It was fascinating to watch him learn which buttons to push to start the music, and which to stop. I’ll tell you it didn’t take long, and I learned by watching him, not the other way around. (Though he did let me show him how to use the touchpad: “This is a mouse?” he asked.)
I don’t want Gatito to become a screenhead, and I do think two is too young for a kid to have his own green ‘puter (and, frankly, one of those $20 laptop toys would probably have been more appropriate), but it was still really cool to watch. I love technology, and I love knowing that he’s going to keep me on my toes, staying up-to-date on the latest trends as he grows up.
