iPad Awesome.

Because you know what? It so totally just is.

I know some people are crazy faced not as lady gaga over their iPads as I am, but I honestly just don’t get that.

Because I love mine.  Love.  Love.  Love-itty-love-love.  My Precious.

It completes me in a way that nothing else has in the past.  You know, nothing inanimate, because I know it’s just and object and people mean more than blah-blah-blah things.

But, you know, of my things, this is really truly my all time most favoritest (not counting my cell phone which as a human, I really just could not live with out.  And, don’t give me that well-what-do-you-think-people-did-before-cell-phones lecture, because honestly, I don’t know as I’ve blocked pre-cell phone time of my life out and just can’t go back to that freaky, scary, apocalyptic sort of place again).

Anyway, all of you Microsoft cabillionaires reading my blog (I know you’re out there) should totally be paying me for this (which, for the FCC record, they totally are not, and if they were I’d be bragging about it emphatically) with free apps and music downloads because I can go on for days about this thing. 

There are just so many things to love about the iPad.

• iPads are light weight.  Bonus for me because it meant I didn’t have to take the heaviest laptop ever made on my recent trip to CA.  Seriously, when I went to NYC pre-iPad days, I walked around like Quasimodo for two days from carrying big-as-my-desktop HP from Hell with me.
• iPads (like all things Mac) are intuitive.  Most importantly, autocorrect recognizes the words crap and douche.  My cell phone constantly changes those definitive members of the English language to clap and touch making my response to BFFs recent man troubles read, "clap he is such a touch, eff him".  Makes me sound like a clap head touch myself.
• iPad batteries last forever and ever.  Let’s go back to the aforementioned trip.  When I arrived, cell phone was deader than a door nail (thanks to texting and tweeting in the airport), but happy little iPad? Still at like 65%!
• iPads are FUN (and useful for work, but who even cares about that?!), for the entire family!  And they make you smarter and more popular and prettier and more fragrant too.  I’m not entirely convinced they won’t one day do something amazing like cure the common cold and/or erectile dysfunction.*  I kid you not, The Dudes spend as much time on this thing as I do (when I let them).  And, I’m not just talking about #1 either.  All three of them enjoy it equally and it certainly comes in handy educationally.

For example, I’ve downloaded a number of math facts apps for #1.  He’s been struggling with them in school and we’ve ramped up his at home practice.  But he gets bored with the flash cards, and some days he and I both want to toss those never ending things in the fireplace.  So this mixes it up a little.  Plus, it’s portable so, when we’re waiting at the doctors office or the DMV (please don’t let me have to test this theory by actually going to the DMV any time soon) we can just whip it out and practice.

Same with #2 and his sight words.

But our most favorite thing to do with the iPad is downloading books.

Fine.  So our second favorite thing, right behind playing Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, is downloading books.

It’s just so easy for on the go reading, and it allows for variety your at home book collection may not. 

I mean don’t get me wrong, I love the feeling of a real book in my hands, and I want The Dudes to appreciate that too.  But, I don’t love having to read Good Night Moon every single night for the rest of my natural life and the iPad apps let me spice it up for them. 

Recently, Patuto Press (the make apps and stuff) contacted me to review one of their iPad book apps for kids. 

Up until that point we were exclusively using iBooks and the Nook for Kids (which is pretty fan-freaking-tastic on its own) so I was stoked to learn that there are many other options for selecting children’s books for the iPad, and many of them are just 99 cents.

The book we reviewed, Bella Goes Bump in the Night (not THAT Bella), is definitely for the older elementary schoolset (some of the images are tres creepy).  #1 was pleased with the title and it led us to explore a number of other books in the collection.

I liked the fun in Frida’s World (The Dudes declared it for girls immediately).

#3 enjoyed A Monster Named Criney Who Makes Kids Whiney

#2 liked King Bartholomew and the Jester’s Riddle.

There really are tons of options!  And, a number of them are available for the iPhone too if you haven’t gotten your iPad yet?!

But, you should because, in case you can’t tell, the iPad is definitely receiving the Dumb Mom stamp of awesomeness (I think I really should like make a stamp, that would be, um awesome, no?!).

So, expect more app reviews soon.

Not because they are paying me (oh how I wish), just because I feel like I’ve found the fountain of youth or the Holy Grail or some other Indiana Jonesy type treasure with this thing, and you know how I like to brag about treasures!

What apps do you love for yourself or your kids (they don’t have to be explicitly for the iPad)?

I’m excited to try out more!

*The iPad probably doesn’t cure anything other than boredem so don’t go blaming me if you buy the iPad and you still get sniffly after your kid puts his hand in your mouth, or if your man still can’t do the wild thing.  Not.  My.  Fault.  Or the iPad’s.

Tagged as: best apps for kids, dumb mom seal of awesomeness, educational apps, ipad apps, ipad review, ipads for moms, iphone apps, what makes ipads awesome, why you should buy an ipad