"I need to have it!"

I wrote a blog entry about  a typical Hispanic parent´s tool of discipline, the "chancleta". Well, Hannah isn´t going to receive any "chancleta" threats from me, but she does seem to have a strange fascination with my favorite pair. I got a pair of slippers in a pedicure kit as a present, well I never used the slippers for pedicures (I think I have only ever once in my entire life had a pedicure) but I just love wearing them. They are comfy, secure and easy to wash so they are my go-to house slippers. Whenever Hannah and I "work" (I am at the computer while she plays with her newly acquired wooden blocks) she will crawl over to my desk and try to steal my slippers at least once during our work session. I love watching how she tries to act like it´s not the slippers she wants, but ends up grabbing one and trying to make a "run" for it back to her play area with said slipper. By running, of course I mean crawling as fast as she can with one hand wearing a slipper, so you see one slipper free hand move forward and hear a *plop* as one "chancleta" wearing hand follows. Let me tell you, it´s very endearing and amusing for a first-time mommy!

We are starting the toddler stage and Hannah is a greedy little sponge soaking up an amazing amount of new knowledge through imitation.

The most recent skills acquired:

1. If you wave at her, she will promptly close her hand, or both, into a fist in a fast repeated motion that is her version of a wave.

2. If you stick your tongue out at her, she will do the same, although usually she will stick her tongue out at you first to initiate the fun copy-cat game and sometimes she´ll blow cherries in between tongue flashes... yes, what wonderful and oh so proper skills she´s learning, enough to make any mother proud ;)

3. On Saturday, my husband and I were playing blocks with her. We gave her a big empty plastic container and she started putting block into and taking blocks out of said container. I started clapping and crooning "Qué Pilas Tu!" ("you´re so smart" in urban Guatemalan lingo). Well, she just started clapping her little hands like a pro... just like that, and just out of the blue. So now she´ll start clapping whenever she does something fun.

4. Sunday, I was eating an apple with her (I bite off the peel and then let her have a go at biting off bits of yummy apple flesh). I was holding her in a sitting position on the kitchen counter and next to us was a basket with more apples. As soon as the basket entered her radar, she grabbed an apple with a chubby little hand, placed it on the counter to get a better hold of it, and them promptly lifted the apple to her mouth to take a bite out of it. I started laughing while I watched in awe and then took the apple away and said "no mami, we are eating this apple" and gave her a bite of the started apple, but she wanted her own and quickly grabbed the new apple again, more dexterously this time. This went on for two more attempts, until I saw she wasn´t going to give up and decided it was time for our trust-worthy distraction technique.

5. She has become an iPad master. I know some parents are against toddlers using iPads, but I am not one of them. I believe that change is a constant part of life and so are technological advances, so it´s important to evolve with the times and right now that means teaching her how to use smart phones and tablets. Who knows what awaits us in a few years, but for now these are the tools most often used. I am amazed that they are even being used in pre-schools here in Guate and that is saying a lot seeing as how I often feel life in Guate is many steps behind life in first-world countries. So I am not against these marvelous advances in technology and am actually quite fascinated by the content-rich, entertaining, and fully interactive apps I have found for my little darling. Especially the Dr. Panda apps which I would highly recommend.

I think the use of smart phones and tablets is like everything else in life, it´s all about avoiding extremes. She plays with it as a distraction when she gets bored on a mommy night with the girls, and for about 30 minutes total a day because her attention span lends itself for a max of 10 minutes per iPad play session. But she loves it and gravitates toward it whenever it falls into her radar. Who am I to deny her a little fun every once in a while, and really, I couldn´t keep her from trying to grab it even if I wanted to without soliciting a huge cry of angry frustration. I love the reference made in this article about the topic, whipping out an iPhone or iPad in Hannah´s presence is like Frodo donning the Ring. Actually, that´s a pretty good reference for everything that catches her attention now. She tries to steal my "chancletas" like Gollum wanting his "precious" back, the apple, same story and let´s not even talk about pulling out a smart phone or tablet in her presence... you can see it in her face it´s an "Ahhhh!" moment complete with fireworks and a glowing halo around the tablet.

Tags: Blocks Guatemala Imitation iPad La Chancleta

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