MetaChat - I think I brainwashed my baby

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16 January 2008

I think I brainwashed my baby So I'm taking care of my baby boy (4 months old last Sunday!), as my wife is out doing her film critic thing, and we're hanging out on the bed and I'm working on my laptop. →[More:]
He's just been fed and feeling kind of restless, so I open up mediamonkey, and put on a song and a fullscreen visualization (milkdrop). So the screen fills up with psychedelic cobwebs and rainbows and snowflakes and whathaveyou, all shifting colors and moving to the beat.
And he. Just. Stares.
It was like a scene out of clockwork orange. You could see his eyeballs dart around, while his face was completely motionless and expressionless.
He was rapt.
I let it go on for like 5 minutes and then it creeped me out. He looked like 5 seconds away from starting to blabber about lovely ludwig van.
Thoughts? Research? Experiences?

post by: signal at: 17:35 | 7 comments

It was like a scene out of clockwork orange. You could see his eyeballs dart around, while his face was completely motionless and expressionless

To me (someone who does not own a baby), all babies look like this....pretty much all the time.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 16 January | 17:37

You should see it when they look at a ceiling!

posted by pokermonk 16 January | 17:37

Ha. I swore my kid wouldn't watch tv. Someone gave us a full set of Baby Einsteins when he was born and I took them back, scoffing that we wouldn't be needing these, thank you very much. Later someone gave us a Baby Mozart dvd and when Jack was about 5 months old, I played it for him. He. Loved. It. So. Much. He loves his dvds. He gets about a half hour a day, sometimes in the morning, sometimes when I'm fixing dinner. He is so happy, waving his arms, laughing, running around in joy. So yes, I know the look you speak of. What the hell .. we live in a visual world and he's 18 months old now, bright, happy and calm. So don't sweat it. Enjoy watching him enjoy himself.

posted by Kangaroo 16 January | 17:50

Don't think of it so much as brainwashed, but as initiated. That better?
Welcome to the club, junior. One of us! One of us!

posted by Hellbient 16 January | 18:14

You've found something that will calm your restless 4-month old. Consider it your lucky day. "Milkdrop" has the exact same effect on my 2-year-old. I totally get what you are saying. It was a little creepy to see my berserker of a son completely calmed and entranced by something. Either he or I eventually got bored with it though, I can't remember which, but there were no ill effects that I could see. When I get home, I'll poke him for you just to make sure.

posted by Otis 17 January | 11:26

signal, your description cracked me up.

posted by Atom Eyes 17 January | 12:42

In desperation trying to amuse my two-month-old niece and nephew, I began a silly, sing-song voice while wiggling my fingers about two feet over their heads. It worked. My arms hurt, but it worked!

posted by redvixen 17 January | 20:38

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