Kinda where I am at. Our son learned in the last week that YouTube (and not Youtube kids that is on his ipad) is on both TVs. So last night he was downstairs watching DudePerfect and trick shot videos for an hour so don't think a video game is much worse for his brain development.
Yeah screen time is fine as long as there are limits. I would rather my kid play a game than stare at Blaze or Blippi or whatever other bullshit he likes to watch. An hour or two of video games on the weekend isn't going to hurt anything.
some women hate it. my wife certainly does it. we make sure not to make it a habit or anything and treat it like a special activity.
My sons friend just sent him a snap chat of him trying to make a joke video where he was saying the microwave not working right was sparking because he left the fork in it. Microwave blew up and started a kitchen fire. Now the fire department is there putting out a house fire. WTF is wrong with kids?
We’re in n a similar spot and got my 7yo a Switch for his birthday. He mostly plays Pokémon and Mario Kart on it, but he’s getting a couple games from my in-laws for Christmas. For his big gift this year, we’re taking him on his first plane ride to DC using miles and going to the Smithsonian museums.
We were enjoying the porch and shade next to the pool after playing on the beach for a while. Just kinda relaxing before lunch was ready. My damn son threw his tablet into the pool. My wife got it pretty quickly and we tried to shake water out of it and it's drying now. Gonna be a rough taxi and flight home if that bad boy doesn't dry out
My son is almost 7 and we decided to get him a Nintendo Switch for Christmas. He asked for one last year but we wanted to wait a bit longer. We got the OLED version so he can dock into the TV. This will be his first gaming station so thats why we decided to buy the more expensive option. We got some Mario games for him including Mario Kart and Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope. We told the grandparents instead of toys to buy him a game.
Switch is a great game system. My only complaint is that as parent to two boys (7&5), it’s so easy to sit them in front of it for however long and entertain themselves, but then it’s all they want to play with and getting them to stop for dinner/bath/bed time/outside time is increasingly a battle. Also, them asking to play and us saying “not tonight” is becoming an issue. Unless you don’t care about screen time be prepared to have the be rigid with it. I’m sure some people have success with it, but it’s been hard for our family.
It’s also reinforced my position on tablets and smartphones. My kids are going to hate me when they get a little older, but they’re going to be the last ones among their friends to get those. My wife is probably even more extreme on that than me.
Gonna start em off with this? I actually love the idea of it but they're probably getting shoved in a locker if other kids see it.
we originally had one of those loaded mini nintendos and both kids(7&4) seemed to like it a bit. made the jump to the switch oled (I have had a lite for a couple of years) and for the most part they are only into the older nes games on there and the newer ones they want to watch me play we dont play every day and try to limit it to 30-45 min at a time for the most part. they do seem to get more into games on ipad/leap pad, not sure if the physical controller throws them off or what.
Yeah, we don't do daily, and its always 30-60 minutes. We do the whole "tell them how long it will be upfront, give a 10 minute warning before time is up" etc. That used to be fool-proof in the past but is not working as well now. My youngest especially is prone to tantrum outbursts when time is up, whereas my oldest is more of a problem when he asks to play and we say no. I'm sure there are other parenting strategies we could use.
I always love coming in here and reading about all the better parents than I am. Y’all are doing great!
No. Not reading it that way. I know the struggle is real. Just you guys all do a way better job than I did. Truly.
My poor kid still struggles with fine motor skills so she doesn't like playing the Switch much, even the bowling game on the Switch Sports is frustrating for her. Hopefully in another year we can actually play games more fluidly.
My wife introduced our 2 year old to his first game on the iPad last night while I was out of town and said he did great. So away we go I guess.
We have been pretty weary of tablets. We have ipads but they are primarily only used in the car. We will occasionally bring one to a restaurant to use as last resort if the service is slow and the kids start getting antsy. But we don't go out very often as a whole family for that exact reason. And if we do it's at one of those outdoor areas where kids have room to run around and play. Of course when they are around my parents they get to play with their phones almost instantly. Annoying, but that's kind of the price we pay for the free babysitting. And they know not to expect that from us. We find the TV as the sole source of screen time to be the easiest to control. My oldest (6) has matured enough to a point where he can entertain his little sister (3.5) and we don't have to rely on the TV near as much as we used to. That gap of 1.5-3 is really hard and it's very easy to rely on the TV to entertain the young ones.
She's 5. She's been in OT for quite a while now, but our insurance appears that they will no longer cover it after this year. She also doesn't focus as well as some of the kids her age so she gets frustrated if she struggles and has a hard time when we help her try to learn.
Massive struggle with the iPad at times here as well. Smart phones are absolutely going to come late as possible and I’ll have them on absolute lockdown with parental settings.
Probably getting a switch for my 6 year old (turns 6 in January) but he’s been gaming since 3. Started just playing Lego super hero’s together on ps4 just to give him the idea of controlling something which he thought was amazing. Eventually worked our ways to sports games on N64 which are much easier to pick up and play. honestly I’d much rather him go down this path than more time with tablets. Just a more controlled experience and he’s already obsessed with Minecraft (not the game, just the characters). He also still plays a lot around the house but I don’t mind him having games to enjoy.
Easy “intro game” for 3/4 year olds: LeapFrog PAW Patrol: To The Rescue! Learning Video Game https://a.co/d/40nGVan
My son had an ear infection he never complained about so we didn't know. Well, now its spread to his eye and we have been in the Children's Hospital for 16 hours now getting antibiotics via IV. Sleeping on the dad couch is bringing back PTSD of insomnia when my kids were born. Oh also my wife has the flu. She is feeling a little better today after TamiFlu. But its been one hell of a 24 hours.
Update, CT scan showed no infection behind the eye, so everything is treatable with antibiotics. One more night in the hospital though.
Youngest been a huge mommas boy lately. Like no matter what/when, the moment I pick him up he is pinching, scratching, headbutting me. Yesterday he motioned for me to pick him up for the first time in legit maybe 2 months. Wasn’t expecting it and damn near cried.
My son is starting to tell on me to mom for being mean to him. After I do absurd things like change his clothes or stop him from crawling on a 15' ledge with no railing which he'd possibly die from the fall. He runs to my wife "I sad. Daddy made me cry" Little brat
I’m watching the World Cup and my 4-yr old daughter comes in wanting to watch girls play with Barbies on YouTube. “It’s not even the Gophers or Vikings on tv.” Apparently they learn early.
Two different rounds of colds have rotated through my kids (and now me) with no break since thanksgiving. This ain’t it.
Try since October 4th. One of my kids has had strep twice, an ear infection, and a cough that won’t go away. Also has fluid in his ears which caused him to fail his hearing test at school. He’s on his 4th 10-day course of antibiotics, on top of steroids, inhalers, etc. I’ve lost track of pediatrician visits, it’s got to be close to 10 in that time. Had to take my other kid to the ER in a small town on Thanksgiving morning because he woke up screaming with an ear ache. Screamed for about 90 minutes nonstop. Shit is brutal. Luckily nothing serious, just a huge pain in the ass. Consolation prize is we have an 8 hour flight coming up and I’ll be traveling with a small pharmacy in our bag. I’m sure that will go well.
Jesus. How old? The real killer for us is our 4.5 month old. She has been up until 3/3:30 this morning the last two nights just screaming. Every time she would fall asleep, she would cough and wake herself up. Feel bad for the 2.5 and 4 year olds, but at least when they’re sick they just lay around and we can give them meds.
We met with an ENT Friday and have a sleep study consult tomorrow. I feel like they’re comin’ for those tonsils.
I figured this is the best thread for this. I live in a pretty poor area. We found out that my daughter's best friend's family are going through bad times and said they won't be able to give their daughters a Christmas. We're the position to be able to help, but aren't sure the best way to go about it. We were thinking of just leaving an anonymous note with cash or a Visa giftcard in their mailbox. That would leave any awkwardness out for them from us approaching them and we don't need to have them know where it came from. Any thoughts?
Cash probably the best route if the parents’ judgement is to be trusted. My grandfather would do something similar but with bags of groceries for people.
Yea As long as you aren't worried they would spend it on drugs or something, I would put straight cash in an envelope and drop it in their mailbox A typed and printed note with just something like, "we heard times were hard and we want you to have a good Christmas " and maybe a computer printed label on the envelope would be best