An iPad Re-Kindles One Mom’s Love of Reading

Last Christmas season it seems like everyone, everywhere was buying tablets.

It was like the hot gift to have if you were human in America.

I mean, I get it.

I am a dedicated iPad owner.

Mostly.

I am the official, registered owner of the iPad that dwells at our home, BUT, in order to enjoy said iPad between the hours of 9am and 9pm, I have to seek the permission of one of my three children or spouse to do so.

Santa brought me the iPad the year iPads were made available to the average citizen (yes, I need to update that!).  He didn’t bring it to the family.  He didn’t bring it to the kids.  He brought it to ME.

Yes, he's training to be Justin Timberlake when he grows up.

But, as the mom of my house, everyone clearly operates under the what’s-mom’s-is-mine-and-what’s-mine-is-mine-so-don’t-touch-it philosophy when it comes to things that theoretically belong to me.

I can’t blame them; they love my iPad as much as I do.

It serves so many functions.  It makes digital life much more accessible.  And pretty much everything else just better!

For me it has reopened the world of reading.

I used to be an avid reader; never being without a book of some sort shoved into my purse to be pulled out in traffic whenever the opportunity arose.

But then I had kids and my free, book-carrying hands were filled with kids.  And kid scented items.  I switched to an oversized diaper bag and packed it with stuff kids “need”, leaving no room for stuff mommies like (not that I could ever even think about whipping out a book in a waiting room with a toddler on the loose).

Plus, have you ever tried hitting up Barnes & Noble with a 5 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn?

Yeah, well don’t.

It’s not fun.  Because sitting around that germ-pool-of-a-wooden train they have there while other kids bat at and refuse to share with your kids, while your infant wails in the heat of the place, is no way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

And you can’t even think about picking out a book.

Or enjoying a latte.

Or anything that used to feel awesome.

So, I lost my affection for books for a bit.

But, my tablet brought that back to me full force.

Now I can pick out and instantly download all of my paranormal reading material (yes, I have a sick obsession with paranormal romance)  while the Dudes sleep scrunched up in the bed with me in their beds.  No bundling up, no dragging out kids, no bulk-packing snacks, no influenza train, no fighting, no crying, no nothing.

Just me and my tablet, cuddled up for a read.

Happiness.

Please note: Tablets have a bunch of other uses that make them awesome.  I plan to share some of those with you in future posts.  Don’t worry, I will convince you!

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Dumb Mom has been wowing the Internet since 2008 when she launched her pretty-much-useless guide for parents, parenting BY dummies.  As it turns out her parenting advice is not generally useful for more than a good laugh, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need!  Dumb Mom spends her online time (which is embarrassingly limited) running a photography business, working as a social media director for a local print publication, writing freelance articles about stuff she loves, wrangling Dudes, petting her Baby Dog Daughter, and eating cupcakes in her garage to escape the crazy.  You can Tweet with her online as @dumbparent, but don’t expect her to be serious.  It’s virtually impossible. (edit)