Unintended Consequences ... again

I gave 21 month old Hayden an iTouch. She was always using Jill’s iPhone; often when I would call or soon after a missed call. For some reason she would never tell her mother that I had called. Having her own iTouch seemed the perfect solution. Jill would know I called and the life of her iPhone would be extended at least a year. And all was going along swimmingly for a month. Other kids and parents would ooh and aah as Hayden navigated through the touch screen and played counting games and matched barnyard animals to their silhouettes. Her mother and I would beam at the feats of this amazing child. She also liked to watch her favorite YouTube videos of Elmo, Dora and others. She hadn’t figured out the navigation so she would ask Jill to change videos once she tired of the one playing and replaying. All was well in Hayden land.

But then one day at 22 months she did figure out how to navigate YouTube. She knows she likes Dora but doesn’t know she wouldn’t like “Death of Dora.” We did not see that coming. Besides her nightmares, Jill and I have this fear that some unsuspecting child and mother coming over to watch her play on the iTouch only to see Dora’s limbs being severed by a chainsaw. I know I don’t sleep nights anymore.