Back in the old (not too old because…) days, when I was little or of toddler’s (I am not that old…60 is the new 30) age; when a baby cries, he is given Woodworth Gripe water to help calm him, numb him or knock him under. Now, I know why.

It is reported that this Gripe (and you may probably wonder why it is named as such) water has an alcohol content that would floor many of the sober, seasoned adult drinkers. And you wonder why homes are stocked, high; with this stuff, to the point of hoarding it. Parents must have been taking more than a swig of this, just to calm their nerves, so it seems. At least that is the excuse…er…reason given. I can only imagine what the people at the stores selling Gripe water were thinking. “These toddlers are topers”.

In the ’80s and ’90s of the last century and the early 2000s; the rubber stoppers became a “must have” and “don’t leave home without it (sounds like a tagline of a credit card, but that’s plastic) if you know what’s good for you and the community”. Yup… the sucker I am talking about is the “soother”.

Officially known as the pacifier, the sucking pacifier was also known as the teethe or the “plug” (for obvious reasons). This “device” was so important that it was not unthinkable to have several spares lying around all over the house or in the car, etc. The moment the wailing starts; the most important device known to mankind (at that time) is whipped out faster that you can say, “ya-a-ber da-a-ber doo!”

Have you seen how this sucker is shoved in the mouths of those angelic babies? It sometimes looks like it is being ram-rodded in the mouth. Or a person having difficult with stick shift (known to Americans) or shifting gears from 1 to 2, in a car. With almost brute-like force, manage to get the gear into 2.

Parents of today will go into hyperdrive freak out if cleanliness or hygiene was compromised, even for a little bit. The sucker-shoving parents of those days will not give it a second thought if the sucker / soother / pacifier was to fall out of their child’s mouth, onto the ground. They just pick up this ingenious device and put it back into the mouth of their baby, not even bothering to clean it or worse still; sterilize it again.

“Wha-a-a-ayyy!” the toddler wails, at the top of his or her voice. leaving nothing to imagination. One wonders how the lungs of these “angels” manage to hold so much of wind power that helps them bellow for the longest of time. To add drama and special effects, these angels throw themselves on the floor, roll this way and that way (one can’t help but reminisce some of the Bollywood [1] movies with loads of drama and excitement) and employ chameleon-like colour changes.

These angels seem to be keeping abreast of times. Shove an iPad in their face and all peace will settle in.

The ipad seems to be the answer to everyone’s prayers, even for those that don’t pray. It was a hit when it launched. The iPad reached out to people of all ages. The hundreds, if not thousands of games which have colourful graphics and exciting music and sounds on a big screen (about 10 inches) have gotten the attention of toddlers, and grown-ups; too. Yes, there are the grouchy, tantrum-throwers in their senior age, too.

There are the good and not so-good points of these electrical chopping boards. Since the iPad was introduced over a decade ago; the toddlers, who are now teenagers; have grown up with theses devices. During the same period; a slew of manufacturers have come out with their own tablets / tabs or big portable flatscreens, which have the capability of surfing the internet and being a smartphone. Parents are trying their best to detach these flatscreens from the faces of their children but seem to be fighting a losing battle. An idea that started out as good is now…not so good.

Steve Jobs, the developer of these well-known iPads and iPhones spoke about how he doesn’t let his children use them at all in their homes. “So your kids must love the iPad?” asked Nick Bilton, a New York Times reporter. “They haven’t used it,” replied Steve Jobs. (2)

From the original 10 inch size, the mini versions were introduced, too. Now, the trend is to compete with the 65inch to 85inch size LED tvs. The newly introduced models from Samsung and Apple are scorching the race track to come out with screen sizes past 20 inches.

Emotional support for who? The child? The parents?

NOTES:

1. Bollywood Hindi cinema, often known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is the Indian Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The term is a portmanteau of “Bombay” and “Hollywood“. The industry is related to Cinema of South India and other Indian film industries, making up Indian cinema – the world’s largest by number of feature films produced.
2. 22 Mar, 2021. https://www.mathgenie.com/blog/steve-jobs-kids-didnt-have-an-ipad.-why-should-your-kids-have-one-1#:~:text=Steve%20Jobs%2C%20the%20developer%20of,it%2C%E2%80%9D%20replied%20Steve%20Jobs.