Taunted by a Tamogotchi

I've officially left the little kid years with my daughter and have moved into technological territory. Forget the Gameboy, the X Box or the Playstation...these days, it's all about the Tamagotchi. I'm convinced that this crazy contraption was created to drive parents over the edge. Just as school started, I decided to be a nice mom and buy my daughter a Tamagotchi. The moment it arrived, she was thrilled and luckily a friend was over who was quite proficient at caring for this digital creature. You see, when you get a Tamagotchi, it becomes the neediest gift you'll ever receive. It starts out as an egg and then your kid can feed it tons of sushi, it poops, sleeps and if you don't take good care of it, you'll wake up in the morning to find a skull and cross bones greeting you. So far, our friendly Tamagotchi has been quite sinister - waking my daughter up twice this week and instantly sending her into bed with us. Then, she woke up to find that dreaded skull and crossbones. Determined to stop that Tamagotchi from waking the family, I told my daughter to find someone at school who could help us stop the insanity. And guess who came to the rescue? Her 2nd grade teacher...also a mom of two who showed her that there's a pause button on the darn thing. So parents, if you want to make sure your child and her Tamagotchi get a night filled with peaceful dreams and no skull and cross bones, then press pause and everything will be just fine. Of course, if the Tamagotchi kicks the bucket, you can also restart the contraption and start all over again with a little digital egg. Can't we just go back to basics? What ever happened with bringing home a baby chick anyway?