Xebedee

If you suffer from kids and are not insensibly drunk in trying to deal with it all:

"Do you allow them to have their own TV set in their room?"
"Do the little darlings have their own Cell phone"
"and so on and so forth...."

And for those in California:
"Do you drive them to their analyst or do they take the bus?"

PS: If they don't have any of the above, then you are normal.
Have another drink.

Bob

so where is the option for none then?

Mine's a little to young...but I wouldn't have a problem with having own puter at some stage, maybe a bricked mobile for emergencies later on, but nothing to easy to pinch...

etali

What age group are you talking about? My niece is 14 and has had her own TV, computer, and mobile since she was 12.

I think any younger is a bit young, and I'm strongly in favour of adult supervision when they're on the web, but the mobile is really useful for making sure she gets home in time for tea, etc.

ChocolateBabz

Just the TV but my dude is only 9. He did ask for his own laptop with wireless internet access for Christmas though. To which I replied "Not before I get one sweetie". It is crazy though the stuff kids have nowadays. On top of the TV has has digital cable in his room, a better ipod than his dad, a wii, a nintendo ds and a UK PS2 that won't work over here - lol!!

Bluegrass Lass

I may end up eating my words, since I have no kids yet, but I don't plan on giving any of those things to my future children.

The only cell phone my kids will get, that is bought by me, is one of those phones that can only call like 4 numbers: home, my cell, hubby cell and 911. The computer will be a family PC, with adult supervision, as well as the tv. Heck, we don't even have a tv in our bedroom so I can't see the kids getting their own.

If htey want a 'better' cell phone, they will have to buy it themself and use their own money to pay for it. Same goes for the tv. if they want their own tv, they better save up for it, and they'll pay me money for the digital cable/satellite box rental that we'll get charged. It sounds harsh, but at least it'll teach 'em the value of a dollar.

Sorry..didn't mean to go off topic, but it really peeves me off to see parents giving their kids all these things, as it just gives them a sense of entitlement and no understanding for the cost of these 'things'.

Moonshadow_Girl

I'm with you there on that one. Like you, we don't have children, and I certainly can't see myself agreeing to give a child a cell, an unsupervised computer, and a tv in their room. I agree that there should be a "family computer" in a common room, and if push came to shove, if you have more than one teenager in the family, another computer that didn't have access to the internet, strictly for typing homework assignments, collating data, etc. The internet is dangerous and costly, that's how I found my husband!

I like the cell, "pay-as-you-go" idea, and the limited numbers cell idea too. Although, on a different subject, I hear that Ford or GM is manufacturing cars with chips that will not allow teenage drivers to drive above 80mph and limit the sound on the car stereo.

jumping doris

I answered yes to all of them but my eldest is 19, middle one 17. The youngest has her own cell phone and TV. She is 13.

The TV has a DVD built in and she can only use the TV for watching her DVD's, it isn't hooked up for viewing channels.

The phone...she often needs to contact us if she is at cheer practice or at other team stuff. We have no public transport here and we don't want her to get stranded.
She has a strict texting limit and cannot phone out of network.

They all have phones at her school and she would be regarded as a bit of a weirdo without one. I know it is peer pressure but you choose your battles and this is one I chose not to fight.

All my children work...the eldest have proper jobs and the youngest pet sits, gardens and baby sits and they all pay for their own stuff and are fully aware of the value of money.

Just because they have these things doesn't mean they are spoiled and have no sense of money.

robskatie

My older 2 girls have cell phones and t.v in their bedrooms with sat t.v, the cell phones they paid for themselves and they are on our plan, they have unlimited texting but can only call home or our cell phones, they comply with this without any complaints, I believe if you give a little you get a little back, they help out around the house and with their younger 2 siblings, the eldest babysits are both responsible and do well at school. I don't see them as spoiled at all, just normal

lisag8070

Answer: None so I'll have another drink..

but she does take over my TV every chance she gets....mind you she's only 7....ask me again in another 7 years...

Mummy in the foothills

I suppose it depends on the age, my 3 year old has none of the above. But my 20 and 14 year olds have a cell phone each, and there is a TV in the room they share when the oldest is home. No cable in the house though so 4 channels, no fun.
I'm in CA and none of us have needed a therapist as yet.

cindyabs

My son is 30 now, so he was on the tail end of some of the goodies available out there. However, he was an only child and both of us worked so he could have many things. BUT the only toys he got that were specifically his was a tv for his room when he was 14 and my mother bought for him. We bought him a car after he got his license, mainly because he had after school activities and in the summer he had a job AND the house is out in the sticks.

My Dad always said (and I was an only child also), "You can have whatever you want, as long as you pay for it."

Patrick Hasler

Our 'almost' 13 year old has Satelite TV in his room with a lot of channels locked out
A cell phone that he can only carry when he is with Kate's ex for a day or two and only call home if needed ... Because he is as trustworthy as Ronnie Kray.
And Internet access for usually an hour a day ... we have to watch his every moove because he is so gullable and would respond to a Nigerian con at the drop of a hat

Unfortunately he is fast becoming his biological Dad all over ..... A compulsive liar

Ray

FFS.. I never saw a banana until I was 11 and that was a christmas
present...

I got a TV in the bedroom for my 60th......

Cell ..not got that advanced yet...

Yup you all spoil your kids far too much ..
no wonder they still live at home when they are in the twenties

Jerseygirl

Where is the steamroller option?

cindyabs

In Mannheim.