Una Healy's genius fib to keep her iPad hidden from her 5-year-old
The Irish popstar's eldest child, daughter Aoife, was a little too enthralled by YouTube...
“Oh my God, we’ve got Twilight Sparkle!” says Una Healy in a thick American accent.
The Saturdays singer’s typical Irish twang is gone for a moment, as she mimics a toy-opening YouTuber from the States.
It would seem her 5-year-old daughter, Aoife, is a tiny bit obsessed with them.
“I have all the parental controls on the iPad, for going on the internet - but she lovesYouTube, watching Kinder eggs being opened and blind bags being opened,” Una explains (in her usual accent) to MadeForMums over the phone.
(BTW, blind bags are what you’d call a bag of small toys and treats, where you don’t know what you’re getting until you open it.)
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“There’s millions of views on these videos, of My Little Pony ? blind bags being opened.
"She’d just sit and watch them and you’d hear ‘and oh, what do we have next?’, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got Twilight Sparkle’ in an American accent.
“She even started putting on the Southern [States] accent. It would go through you, the noise, just the sound… you know, I was like, I can’t, this has to stop.”
Before things got out of hand, 35-year-old mum-of-2 Una nipped the obsession in the bud with a tiny, cheeky fib…
“With the iPad, it’s a great distraction - but it should only be a temporary thing,” she shares.
“Aoife was starting to get too attached to it, so I had to hide it. I said it’s been in for repair. It’s been in for repair for a long time now.”
?????
Now, we’re pretty sure most parents deal with the YouTube craze at some stage, right?
Especially the sugary sweet vids, often from America, showing young children being surprised by and narrating their experience of receiving amazing toys and gifts.
For some reason, they’re crazily addictive (just like YouTubers in general), but can quickly turn a little one’s odd iPad sesh into a regular occurrence.
So let's just say we’ll definitely be borrowing from Una’s playbook on this one ?
Can you relate?
Does your little one go crazy for YouTubers - and has it increased their tablet time? If so, which ones, and would you consider telling a white lie to minimise their iPad usage like Una did?
We’d love for you to share your story on Facebook, or in the comments below.
Una Healy has partnered with NIVEA SUN and Cancer Research UK - read what you need to know about sunscreen for little ones here
Images: Instagram/Una Healy
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