Today is another exciting day in Mommy Shorts history as I am giving away my biggest prize to date. One lucky reader will win an iPad 2 (which starts at $499 for those of you who are not already actively coveting one).
The giveaway is being sponsored by Vonage "Time To Call" in return for promoting their new cheap and easy international calling app.
Since I am currently family-less in Argentina (and perhaps stranded for longer than I planned due to the hurricane), the timing of the promotion seems oddly fitting.
The Vonage "Time To Call" app is a free download for your iPhone, iPad or iTouch that lets you make 15 minute calls to 190+ countries with a flat rate that gets billed directly to your iTunes account. (100 countries are 15 minutes for $1.99 or less and 90 additional countries are 15 minutes for $2.99 – $9.99— excluding applicable taxes.) The app works on Wi-Fi worldwide and on 3G in the US and Canada. Plus you don't have to be a Vonage home customer to use it. You can download the app for free here.
It's incredibly easy-to-use interface looks like this:
Argentina, if you are curious, clocks in at just $1.99 for a 15 minute call.
And let me just say, as much as I love talking to my 20 month-old daughter while I am out of the country, I have learned that a 15 minute phone call from her is more than enough time. (I'm speaking of the video-less variety.)
Have you ever talked on the phone to a one-year-old in front of a group of co-workers? How 'bout on a crowded plane before take-off? No way in hell I would want to be the childless stranger privy to that nauseating five minutes of baby talk screamed at top volume.
(I think I'm screaming because I know Mazzy doesn't necessarily have the phone diligently held up to her ear, but I cannot be sure.)
Besides yelling at the top of my lungs, I am also aware that I use only two or three toddler-friendly phrases because they elicit an understandable response and then repeat them over and over again.
So my side of the conversation might sound something like this:
"HI MAZZY!… HI!…. HI!… IT'S MOMMY!… HI!… IT'S MOMMY!… I LOVE YOU!… I LOVE YOU!… I LOVE YOU TOO!… HI!… HI MAZZY!… DID YOU GO OUT TO PLAY TODAY?… DID YOU GO OUT TO PLAY TODAY?… YES, IT'S MOMMY!… I LOVE YOU!… HI!…"
Lucky for everyone, Mazzy knows when to call it quits before I do. Ten minutes in, five "I love yous" and one "Hokey Pokey" singalong complete, my daughter will take it upon herself to say— "Bye! See you!"
"BYE! SEE YOU!" I shout loud enough to reverberate off the walls, kill various forms of wild life and break every plate within a five mile radius.
I guess the rationale is— she might not be able to see me but GODDAMNIT, she is gonna HEAR ME!
Along with every other person from here to Chile.
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iPAD 2 GIVEAWAY RULES
You must be a Mommy Shorts facebook fan to enter. If you are not already a fan, you can easily become one by clicking "like" on the facebook widget on my right sidebar or by clicking here. I would also appreciate if you "liked" the giveaway by clicking the facebook "like" button below this post, but it is not required.
There are THREE POSSIBLE ENTRIES. For each entry, please leave an additional comment below the post. It's the only way to keep track.
1) Leave a comment below answering the following question: If your child could call anyone in the world, who would it be? Extra credit if you tell me what they would say. For instance Mazzy might call me in Argentina to say "Come home, Mommy!" or more likely she would call Elmo to say, "More celebrity duets, less Mr. Noodle please!"
2) Upload a photo of your baby/toddler talking on the phone to the wall of the Mommy Shorts facebook fanpage. Again, tell me who they are calling and/or what they are saying.
3) Tweet the giveaway link using both @mommyshorts and #timetocall within the tweet.
Winner will be announced on Tuesday, August 30th.
Good luck!!!
UPDATE: This contest is over. Click here for the winner.
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If you want to increase your chances of winning, Vonage is giving away 75 more iPads through other blogs. You can find links to all the participating blogs by clicking HERE. You cannot win more than one iPad in the competition. Also, depending on where the winners live they may receive the Apple iPad 2 32 GB WiFi, or the equivalent Apple Gift Card to use at an Apple retailer.
Forgot to include the hashtag. Final tweet link here: http://twitter.com/#!/haragio/status/108285469548216320 I’m Sorry!
Just tweeted @hotwls13
Ella would call Dora in Mexico. That is apparently where Dora is from and she would ask “Dora, would you please come visit” Vamanos amigos!
itsjuststacey@yahoo.com
I also like you on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1163296322). My not yet born child would probably try to call God and wish for more rain. Just like me when I was a child, love rain.
My son has autism so he typically doesn’t like to talk on the phone much unless its really really someone good!! He is completely obsessed with roller coasters so If he could talk to the maker of splash mountain he would be happy ….or maybe mickey mouse :))
Tweeted
If my son could call anyone in the world, he would most likely call me. He can’t speak yet, so he would just sit there and look at the phone while I talk to him.
his grammy,they dont see them often
probably just hello,how r u
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
Instead of guessing, I just asked my daughter. If she could call anyone in the world right now, it would be her friend Autumn who moved. And the “what would they say?” part would be “why didn’t you call me in all this time?” 🙂 (My Facebook name where I “liked” you is Katharina Ess)
angelsandmusic[at]gmail[dot]com
My son is only 8 months old and isn’t particularly worldly at his tender age. But I bet he could manage to dial a random overseas number after enough time banging away on the number pad of my iphone, and he’d happily blather away, “bap bap bap dadada gurgle gurgle grrrrrrrrrr”.
I tweeted!
My son would call his grandparents in California. I’m sure that if he could talk he would say “I miss you!”
She would say “elmo!”
Tweeted about the giveaway!
my son would definitely call Lightning McQueen and i think he’d say what he always says when he sees anything with a motor, “Wow DaDa look! big big car! Beep Beep!”
just tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/daiglesweeps/status/108317295159422976
my boy would call his nana and beg for a scary story!
I like u on FB! thanks for sharing!
I think the kinder would like to call just about anyone in Scotland, just to hear the accent.
I’m a fan…
Tweet – http://twitter.com/#!/choochoo428/status/108326007789985792
My daughter would call her boy friend on Pakistan. She would probably tell him how much she loves him.
Thanks for the giveaway…Lily would call my great aunt in Ireland and ask about her pet goat, Finbar, the one that eats banana peels !
senorpiero [at] yahoo [dot] com
…”like” Mommy Shorts / Facebook: bryan eason
Tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/brianpiero/status/108334824632221696
If my child were to call anyone in the world, walker would call grandma Hariet to ask her when she is going to make more cookies.
I just became your newest fan on FB and “liked” your page! : ) And if my adventurously spirited, 3 year old, could call anyone in the world…it would be his beloved grandma up north. He’d say, “grammaaaa…..super hugs!!!”
Thanks so very much for this fabulous give~away! : )
leahita[at]gmail[dot]com
My daughter would call Terry Pratchett in the UK and ask him, “more Vimes storis, please.” He would understand 🙂
My kid would call Santa, obviously, to ask him how come he’s not been eaten by polar bear yet.
My kid would call Santa Clause, obviously, to ask him for a baby polar bear!
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/jtrzpis/status/108351399947022337
If my baby called anyone, I’d die of shock (she’s advanced for a 2 month old, but still. Two months old. Doesn’t have the gross motor, let alone the fine motor, skills for phone calls. Give it another month or so, though, and I’m sure she’ll have mastered the task!) but if she could, she’d definitely be dialing up her Grammy… Little girl misses her! (And so does her mommy!)
I don’t have children but I do have two young nieces who I watch after on weekends and they would call my friend Maria in Spain and tell her “We miss you Maria. Let’s get ice-cream” because she always took them out for icecream whenever she visited 🙂
(I like you on fb as Dee G and like this giveaway entry.) I also tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/DeeGee13/status/108363616096485376
My child would call Ronaldo the soccer player and say: ‘wait, are you related to the Young and the Restless Ronaldo?’
my daughter would call her aunt jodi and ask her when she was going to come see her.
I like you on Facebook (hyzennthlay c.)
If my son could call anyone in the world he would likely call his daddy. He spends a lot of time talking on the phone, but he has no idea that he is actually supposed to be talking to someone!
I tweeted!
http://twitter.com/#!/Hyzennthlay/status/108396559644889088
I posted a photo on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=154271441324117&set=o.153515434662274&type=1
yes i like it it looks good
My daughter would call Mickey Mouse in Mickey’s Playhouse. She was say something like “Ayououdsaufo” 🙂 My daughter Charlotte Grace is 5 months old 🙂
My son Peter Gabriel would call Spongebob and tell him “Hey Spongebob, let’s go make some crabby patties because my mom doesn’t know how to make them. I love crabby patties!!!!!”
Just Tweeted here is my link:
http://twitter.com/#!/ShadWanless/status/108405376671690754
@ShadWanless
I tweeted : https://twitter.com/#!/bigvincec/status/108425900223246336
Tweeted about this contest! @joeljayjulian
https://twitter.com/#!/joeljayjulian/status/108428983502258176
followed on Facebook (as Sue Bradford) and tweeted:
http://twitter.com/#!/swisspotluck/status/108462971197468672
My teenage daughter would probably call home to my husband and I. EXTRA CREDIT: She would probably say “can you send me some more money, then I miss my bed and Rocky (our dog), and finally do I really have to come home”
tweeted the giveaway via @wldflowur13 http://twitter.com/#!/wldflowur13/status/108520375784181760
My 3 year old would call “Lili, my friend” and tell her “Help me how to paint!”
The 1 year old is less discriminate in her calling habits and just likes to have people on the phone who will talk with her and ask questions for her to answer.
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/nightowlmomma/status/108535919778332672
Call me. Say hello.
My four month old baby is in LOVE with this lady my sister works with. We’ve gone there twice, and both times, she has freaked the heck out laughing and giggling with this lady. She would call the heck out of this lady, I’m sure, if we had an ipad with this app. It depresses me, since I do somersaults for her on a daily basis (sometimes more than once a day) without this kind of response.
If my child could call anyone in the world, who would it be? Grandma!
As a matter of face, when she was 2 years old (last year), she picked up Mommy’s phone and found the picture of Grandma. From there, she managed to call Grandma, who was in an airport waiting to fly home from the funeral of her sister in another state. Needless to say, the phone call could not have been at a better time. Grandma later called us back to let us know our daughter had called her and lifted her spirits by telling her how much she loved Grandma and missed her.
If she called Grandma again (and she has), I’m pretty sure she will tell Grandma she misses her, she loves her and then narrate an event from her past day or two.
Yup! Tweeted too! 🙂
Uploaded 2 pictures of Hana calling her Grandma onto your Facebook page. She is such a treasure to us. Enjoy!
Well, I like you on FB and I tweeted this giveaway link
https://twitter.com/#!/GerryinWP/status/108662297748193282
js48 at VERIZON (period) NET
My son would call me at work to see what I was doing.
http://twitter.com/#!/hfdewees/status/108668623706537985
I tweeted the giveaway @pattypooh11 http://twitter.com/#!/Pattypooh11/status/108717507086520321
I left photo on your fb wall but didnt see that I needed to put a additional comment in so im doing that now, hope its not too late!
http://twitter.com/#!/HMB99/status/108732416792870913 tweet
Tweeted about the giveway! @visualrant