::A Geek in Korea::

My wife bought Glow a new toy. Generally we shy away from noisy toys. A few rattles are enough noise for us already. The tough part is keeping Glow entertained long enough to find some time to get things done around the house. Carrying her around all the time was too tiring. We had to find a way to keep her happy while we did the dishes or ate. Her swing was broken, and there were only four songs that drove us mad listening to over and over again.

My wife saw an awesome toy she had to get that was recommended by a friend that heard about our problem. It’s a sort of simple piano like toy that has a few positions it can be configured into that will allow her to play with it throughout her development. Right now it sits above her while Glow is on a blanket. Later it will be like a music keyboard so she can pretend to be in a band. I never really had many musical toys at home, and I can’t read music now or play any instruments. I’d like for Glow to be more musical than I was now that I’ve grown to appreciate the mathematical and brilliantly soothing qualities of music.

On the face of the toy are a series of colorful stars and five piano keys. There are also dangling toys she can grab and play with. The lights and stars flash in combination while it plays music. There are two settings. An interactive setting, and a “demo mode” setting. If she presses one of the piano keys she can change the song. As she grows older, she’ll be able to use the keys to actually play basic music. The bright lights and smiling faces make it very cute to watch. It’s perfect for her.

Right now she’s too young to interact with the toy, so she just sits and stares at the lights, grabs the different dangling toys and is entranced by the music. There are at least half a dozen songs, and they don’t repeat often enough to get on your nerves immediately. Glow sat and played with the toy for an hour today, which greatly relieved my wife. Suddenly she had time to do things like, “Eat dinner” when I was away at work. Right now Glow doesn’t know how to play with it, but she doesn’t need to. Once she’s actually banging on the keys and switching the songs she’ll have even more fun. I hope she’ll stay interested in it for a few years too.

The best part was when I came into the room to watch her for the first time with her new toy. She stopped paying attention to that and just stared at me. I kept trying to get her to play with it or push the buttons, but she just kept smiling at me instead. I felt very happy that I was as least as entertaining as some bright lights and noises to her.

Anyway, it was money well spent, as both my wife and I could use a little time to ourselves without having to carry Glow everywhere.