All great conversations start on Twitter. No really, these days they do. I thank Twitter for most of my blog topics these days.
A few months ago I was researching the Leapfrog Tag reader on Amazon, and reading the reviews. Brianna is a huge bookworm, I’m not sure WHERE she gets that from 
but she loves books. We read every night and, sadly, when we’re searching for a punishment “reading” is what we have to take away. I know, it seems wrong, but when that’s the thing your kid loves…
Anyway, she loves reading and though she’s at that point where she can both memorize whole books to read back to herself, and recognize/sound out some small words, she’s really not quite reading yet. I’d seen the Tag reader around and thought this might be something she’d love, because it would both read the books to her and also help her read them one word at a time. But I like to research things before I buy them, and though I don’t use Amazon’s book reviews because…well, that’s a topic for another post…I do like to browse their product reviews and read both the favorable and unfavorable.
But I was fairly taken aback by some of what I read while perusing the reviews. People attacking those who said they’d bought this for their children, chastising them for buying something to read to their children instead of reading to them themselves. Accusing them of all sorts of terrible things from bad to lazy parenting. Um. Excuse ME? Talk about making huge assumptions. Man, reading those comments pissed me off.
As it happens, Brianna did get this (for Valentine’s Day) and she loves it. She uses it almost every night at bedtime. AFTER we’ve read to her and she’s in bed reading by herself. Yeah, I can see how that’s evil and bad parenting. Come on, people. Did you ever consider that maybe the person buying it wants to supplement their reading time, not replace it? Bah.
So right now, Brianna has three books for the Tag reader, the one that came with it plus Scooby Doo (she chose that) and an Ariel Princess one that I got on sale last week. She was pretty upset because the Ariel one was NOT the book she’s been wanting. She wants Walter the Farting Dog. I mentioned to Josh today that I was thinking of ordering it from Amazon and shipping it to my parents, so we’d have it for her Easter basket next weekend. He looked at me like I’d grown three heads (not just two). Apparently, he’s never heard of the Walter the Farting Dog books. I was surprised because I thought they were just popular enough that most people know about them but…nope, guess not. He kept repeating “farting…dog? Farting dog?”
So now my husband thinks I’m insane because I want to get our daughter a book about a farting dog. Of course, he didn’t really appreciate the humor behind the jelly-bean pooping reindeer that I put her in Christmas stocking either. That our daughter refers to as the “pooping reindeer” (which is totally what it’s called), causing him to scowl at me every time. Heheheh. Guess who’s got the larger dose of juvenile humor in our family? Just wait until he finds out someone told me there are pooping bunnies AND pooping sheep in the Easter Candy aisle 
We have one of these. By the time both kids hit 3, they insisted on reading themselves, even though they couldn’t quite go solo. It lets them do it alone, but with a little help, and gives them reinforcement from hearing and seeing the words at the same time.
She might also like Starfall.com. I can hardly pry my kids off that site. Good for learning alphabet up to reading solo! And now we are going to have to find Walter. *g*
I bought one of the Farting Dog books for my son, who *whispers* doesn’t like to read. They’re wonderful. As far as the Leapfrog reader… some kids, like my 3 year old daughter, would be happy to have me read to her for hours and hours. This is just not possible. The reader is a godsend.
That’s hilarious – see, something like that wouldn’t necessarily be as amusing in my household because my husband’s humor is just as juvenile as mine at times… hmm, perhaps *that’s* the real reason we don’t have kids yet… I think the Leap Tag reader is a great idea – those Leap Frog people have really done some great, educational things with electronic games!
I can understand your frustration with the attacks in reviews about the Leap Tag though. It seems a bit absurd to attack someone without having any basis for knowing circumstances surrounding the use of electronics like this one. I am sure that there could be some parents out there who use things like Leap Tag as a complete replacement for story time – but something tells me that if a parent is that invested into helping their children learn to read, that same parent is likely highly involved in his or her child’s learning! Good grief.
We got a Leap Pad for the boys where they were about Brianna’s age. They are now 10 and 11. It had been broken for a while but I finally got it fixed. They are fighting over it now. I could not believe it. I thought my ten year old who reads at a Jr High level would sub his nose at it. Nope whines to me when his brother won’t share it. LeapFrog products are AWESOME!
People/reviewers on Amazon are ugly. I don’t read them at for books or products because they are not trustworthy.
Your husband’s reaction is so funny! What a handy device. I wish they were around when my kids were little, especially for long road trips.
She’s 4. Bodily function humor is part of the territory. I can still make my husband laugh by telling him the knock-knock joke we heard our friends’ 3 & 4-year-old daughters telling one another.
Knock-knock.
Who’s there?
Poopy!
Everybody breaks into hysterical giggling fits.
Might as well work with the things they find entertaining. And now, since I’ve heard of these Walter books but not read them, I’m off to see what they’re all about.
Reading your post I had to ask my husband if he remarried when I wasn’t looking. He abuses his perpetual scowl giving me “that look” all the time when I conveniently forget to ask his opinion on gift ideas for the wee one. The Farting Dog has been vetoed, though! Along with Sponge Bob. I had to fight for Dora which still boggles the mind to me but…men.
It is weird that I checked your webbie today because I hadn’t seen Shy’s Tag in a while and then today she came into my room in a 4-yr-old hissy, threw the Tag pen on my bed and said “I’m sick of this not working, Mama. Fix it.” It is good to see she not only inherited my lack of patience but her father’s formidable scowl.
Other parents? Most of them annoy the hell out of me. A few have incited me to violence so I had to learn some breathing techniques. I can’t speak for any other writer/author parents but for me, by the end of the day I usually have migraines or blurry eyes and there are times I don’t feel up to reading a book. If I can give her a Tag Pen and The Little Mermaid, she’s happy, my eyes are happy, so I’m happy.
Thanks for sharing! ::Goes out to look for the pooping bunny.::
I love Walter. And have you tried Tacky the Penguin. He’s great too.
Once she gets a little older: the Captain Underpants series. Hilarious.
I discovered the same thing about Amazon peeps when I went to go buy a similar toy for my nephew. I love the irony, since I’m wondering what THEIR kids are doing while they’re sitting on the computer calling others out for their bad parenting. Nonsense.
Since no one else mentioned it, Wal-Mart has a pooping hen, too.
My daughter loved the farting dog. She still does at 7. Fart jokes are just so cool. Her must-reads are the Junie B Jones books, She has 26 of them and she reads them to me every night. I have to admit that I love the books too.
People are just dumb. I dont know why each and everything had to be judged. Isnt it the greatest joy to watch your child curl up with a book.
I love Walter the Farting Dog! And I have no kids. I’m not sure what that says about me, other than I like dogs. And farting.
I have an extremely well-read and intelligent friend whose mother used to punish her by making her read the classics.
She liked to read anyway, the whole family did. And the punishment wasn’t so much about the ‘taking away of freedoms’ as it was about ‘I want you to think about what you did.’
So there’s a thought for future punishments – she gets to read, but she has to read what you say. Oh, and my friend’s mother would make her provide a book report on what she learned too, usually a verbal one though.
I got the same reaction from some of our friends over the Leappad we bought for my 4.5 year old (she got it when she was about 2.5, I think–just before the Tag thing came out). Otherwise reasonably intelligent people lumped the Leappad into the same category as candy and violent cartoons. But then, our daughter is allowed reasonable amounts of candy too….maybe I’m just an incompetent mom :badgirl:
Char loves her leap pad, and checks out extra books from the library for it and everything. And yes, she does use it alone, without a parent hovering over every word (as if my hovering would automatically ensure she begin reading by age 3 or something). She listens to the stories, and plays the little games, and gets to explore literacy at her own pace. And it isn’t a substitute for reading together–I have to set limits on the time we spend reading every night or she’d have me keep reading till dawn. She got books in her Easter basket too (Fancy Nancy…we love those…)
I shall have to look for the Farting Dog books…that sounds highly amusing!