Why A 3 Year Old Shouldn’t Clean An Ipad

A little over 4 years ago, my 3 year old son, Jay, decided he needed to clean our iPad 1. And if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was so cute and adorable, and my wife holding me back, he may not have seen 4.

So how did we get to that point? I bought the iPad about 2 years earlier because I could see how much it would help me with my work and I could become much more productive. Okay, okay, the truth is I had spent some time playing on one with my wife’s nieces and nephews and I wanted to play the games at home by myself.

At first I did take it to work and tried to use it as another tool to help me with my work, but I just didn’t have the knowledge to know how to use it properly for that then. Over time that has changed and I now use my iPad Air 2 much more effectively, but back then it was basically just another toy.

The best thing we found was that there were a lot of apps and games that we could get Jay to use to help him learn, whether it be counting and math, or the alphabet and spelling. So I started leaving the iPad at home so he could play on it when we weren’t around and he was in the care of our maid.

We had given him strict instructions on keeping it safe and clean so it didn’t get damaged. In hindsight, we should have also told him how to properly clean it, but that he should leave the cleaning to Mummy or Daddy. Unfortunately we did not, and we ended up paying for it quite literally.

So on the fateful day that he decided to clean it, my wife got a call from our panicked maid telling her what happened, who then called to tell me. You know it’s not good news when the first thing your wife says is “Don’t get too mad”.

What happened? I hear you ask (or am I hallucinating again?). Jay had apparently been using the iPad with dirty fingers, he was only 3 at the time and I’m pretty sure 3 year olds attract dirt like a magnet, and he decided he needed to clean the iPad. I can’t really get that mad at him (now) for thinking like that, we had told him to keep it clean, we just hadn’t told him not to clean it himself.

So he took it to the sink and, you guessed it, he washed the iPad. Washing with water is the best way to get things clean, right? After all that’s how we clean Jay, and clothes, and dishes. So for a 3 year old little boy, it’s the most logical thing he could do.

Luckily the maid was nearby and stopped him before it got too wet. But the damage had been done. The iPad was water damaged. We did what the websites all say, we dried it, we put it in rice (which rarely if ever works by the way) and waited a few days before we tried to turn it back on again. It was dead, wouldn’t turn on, wouldn’t respond in any way no matter what we tried.

Apple wasn’t any help, we could buy a refurbished one from them but that’s all they offered. Luckily we saw another shop after we visited Apple and went in to see if they could do anything. And wouldn’t you know it, they said they should be able to get it working again. $100 later and we had it back in working condition. Sure, the volume controls have never worked again, but other than that we haven’t had any other problems with it over the past 4 years. Yes, we do still have it and it works just as well now as when it was first repaired.

As for Jay, he now knows the proper way to clean electronics, and how much damage a little water can do to them. He still gets the iPad dirty with his magnetic fingers, but at least when it needs cleaning he’ll get SO or I to clean it.