Don't let your four-year-old watch TV channels with commercials. Stick with Nick, Jr. (formerly known as "Noggin") or PBS. Skip Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, any of the major networks, etc.
Trust me.
I cannot complain. I have one of the most easygoing kids on the planet. Even when it comes to Christmas. There wasn't really any toy that was on his wish list for Christmas, but since he is getting very interested in reading and writing, I realized a toy that would be perfect for him and planted a few little ideas into his head. Sure enough, it worked, and when I would ask him what he was going to ask Santa for for Christmas, he repeated almost verbatim what I had told him about -- "a book that has games, Mama!".
Perfecto.
Because I had already bought this little lovely for a bargain-basement price, wheelin' and dealin' with my coupon skills. Got it half-off the sale price actually, and got several books to go with it also at bargain-basement prices with more coupons. (I paid less than half for all of the items, AND had it all done BEFORE Thanksgiving even! Go me!)
And then one of us screwed up and let him watch a movie we DVR-ed off the TV, something off the Disney Channel that HAD COMMERCIALS.
Oops.
And thus his love affair with the Crayola Glow Dome was born.
Which he threw in there yesterday when I took him to see the big fat man in the flesh. "Santa, I want a glower" was his exact phrasing.
To quote my own boy, "Wat you say????!!!!", my overconfident-because-this-Santa-already-had-Christmas-in-the-bag-so-to-speak self was thinking. In fact, I was so happy that I wouldn't have to be one of those parents -- you know the ones having to fight over this year's most popular toy like a dumb Zhu-Zhu Pet or something. (Although I am sending out a big high five to my cousin right now, since I know she was one of those poor parents bidding on eBay for the dumb hamster toy.)
Well, no sweat, I thought. The coveted Glow Dome is on sale at Target this week, so I'll just run by there and pick one up. I did my research and checked online to see if it was even available, and according to the website, three stores were supposed to have it in stock.
Fast-forward to this morning, almost two and a half hours after starting out, several phone calls to every store in the city (and not just Target), I finally located one at a Michael's store. There were actually two left when I got there, so I snatched them up (the second will be perfect for a cousin his same age).
And no, they were not near as cheap as from Target.
And yes, I am a bit cranky after the whole experience.
And no, the boy will not be watching any TV channels with commercials between now and December 25th.
Don't let this happen to you, kids. Don't let this happen to you.
9 comments:
I think I may have nightmares over the kids face on that box...little too much excitement for me!
Such a good tip - no tv with commercials! I love it! It is kinda freaky when you think about the advertising power they have over kids. yuck! When the time comes you will have to let me in on how you planted the seeds of him needing a book with games! :)I feel like that skill is an important one to learn!
You had me laughing your whole post....my daughter keeps asking for total junk that she sees on commercials!! Unlike you and your nice ways...I won't buy any of it:-)
Totally with you. Occasionally we watched the Nickelodeon channel to watch Olivia and now my kid wants a Butterfly Barbie. Great... The Tag pen though is awesome. My kid doesn't use it a ton but mainly because its in the car so when we are on long drives she plays with it a lot.
TV or not...kids learn these things! My daughter only lets her kids watch DVD's and they still come up with "in things" like Bakugan...I watch TV and didn't have a clue what that was until last Christmas hunting the planet for such items! So beware!
I hope you have as much fun wrapping it as much as I did!!! :)
Watch out - Noggin isn't 'Noggin' and has started to sneak little bits of 'stuff' in here and there.
I can relate :) My daughter has been asking to go to Chuck E Cheese for months now because of commercials - I won't go because of the H1N1 scare - Chuck E Cheese is quite dirty in my opinion. I hate commercials geared at kids - they really WORK! Ugh! :)
Hey there...Ian is getting the Tag system too. I'm so excited.
All Ian asked for was a little toy bicycyle that he saw in the Target ad about 6 weeks ago. He's easy.
I've always hated commercials too! The toys they are promoting always seem sooo much cooler on TV then when the kid actually gets them. I'll never forget the dissapointment my son had with a Hot Wheels set-up. It was nothing like they promised on TV. We both learned a lesson that year. Good luck to you!!!
Post a Comment