Toddler vs. Technology

Picture it: A lazy summer weekend, too hot to play outside, and not enough things to keep busy inside. By Sunday afternoon we are looking for just about anything to keep this little tyke occupied. So I'm in the kitchen trying to come up with something nutritious and yet still tempting for Brent to eat (it's much harder than it sounds...) and in he strolls with my Mom's cell phone in hand. He's always coveted our phones, and no matter how life-like his toy ones are, he can always tell the difference. So either he found it laying somewhere or Mom gave it to him - either scenario is plausible by this late in the weekend.

I listened with a half-smile as he "babbled" to the person on the other end - no doubt complaining about the lack of new Wiggles material, or maybe the fact that it had been days since his last Oreo. I really hardly know what he's saying anymore. I think he's verbally backsliding into some sort of toddler jibberish language. Or maybe I can only understand him when it's in context. For instance, "tee-tee" can mean "blanket", when accompanied by pointing to the crib. It can also function as "monkey", "tree" or other similar words. Without something to build on, you're really just shooting in the dark these days.

Unfortunately, my Mom's cell phone is like something out of a bad science fiction movie. It has a built in "driving mode" that recognizes verbal commands. Only it NEVER gets them right, and is extremely dangerous to use. So we avoid it at all costs (which is always, unless it just turns on by itself, which it has been known to do).

Here is a rundown of the conversation:

Cell Phone: "Please say a command"
Brent: "Wheeeeeeee"
Cell Phone: "Command not recognized. Please try again"
Brent: "Ow-sigh?"
(editor's note: I thought it was funny that he was pleading to the cell phone to take him "outside" since most of his requests were denied this weekend due to the thunderstorms)
Cell Phone: "Thank you. Announcement mode now turned on"

And for hours after that, every time that phone would ring, it would loudly shout "You have a call from - Unknown Caller" over and over in its deafening robotic dull voice. Or it would try to pronounce the name from its spelling on your contact list, which was slightly worse. I did manage to figure out eventually how to get it back into normal mode. But we'll probably be a little more careful next time we let Brent talk with his imaginary friends.