We love to Skype with our extended family. With the grandkidlets in Texas, it is usually our only way to see them for weeks/months at a time and to maintain that precious relationship with them. But with little ones, Skyping via a stationary computer can be challenging, at best. Let's face it....toddlers and babies get antsy. They'll only tolerate so much time spent sitting in one spot before they want to wander off.
In the past, Skyping with little Sweet Pea has sometimes been limited to her quick appearance at the beginning of the conversation and then a fast pop-in at the end of the Skype call for a blown kiss good-bye. It's been like eating only one potato chip. We've wanted more.
That's where the iPad comes to the rescue. With our daughter-in-law returned to medical residency, she now has an iPad and last night we were able to Skype with them using an iPad on their end. Oh, boy! Not only did it draw the attention of the kidlets, but it was super-portable.
Spud was particularly drawn to it, laughing at our images and trying to reach out to grab us. At one point, he got down on the floor and Jason walked in front of him with the iPad while Spud crawled like a marathon sprinter on his knees following it. We were able to watch the whole thing via Skype --- on eye, or should I say, floor level.
Little Sweet Pea kept popping in to show us different toys. She even hopped off the couch and did some fancy twirling and dancing that we were able to watch, thanks to that iPad.
Sweet Pea and I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" together and then she showed me how she could climb the stack of pillows on the couch (which I dubbed "Mt. Mika). Oh, I know that a laptop could have been moved to follow the action but it still would have been cumbersome, trying to adjust the angle of the screen to catch the action.
Let's face it, there is something irresistible between iPads and children. They are just naturally drawn to them. Add in the convenience of Skyping with the portability of the iPad, and you have a wonderful tool to stay connected with your extended family. When I see smiles like these, how can I not feel blessed?
1 comment:
Those little ones are so sweet! I'm so glad they have learned to skype with you! I can sure see how an iPad would make the process more enjoyable.
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