I want!!

[Mikey]

I used to write down page numbers, item specs, and prices for my mum from the argos catalogue. My DD brought me in a dolls catalogue the other day and asked me to read it to her, I could see where that one was going.

[zazen999]

We don't have catalogues in the house - at all. Keeps temptation away from the adults and the 12yr old.

[Mikey]

What about seed catalogues?

[HeyWayne]

So looking forward to this with Hayden. I have no idea how I'll manage - good luck dude.

He's only just started to eat food other than that which comes in a bottle, so I think I have some time to prepare.

[zazen999]

What about seed catalogues?

Nope, they come in and we have a flick through and they go straight into the fire or the recycling doo dah or the composter [depending on the paper].

[SarzWix]

We used to get told all sorts of twaddle by my Mam and Dad about why we couldn't have things that we'd set our heart on - "If your friend jumped off a bridge would you jump off too?" was a favourite Just made us think we had very mean parents.

Mine get shown the budget for the next month! Although your daughter is obviously too young for that Mikey, you could tell her that she has to save her pennies for things because if Daddy bought everything she asked for you'd all be cold and hungry

[Mikey]

She's quite cunning really, she gets that from her mami, Her favourite request at the moment is at mealtimes to ask for something that takes along time to make, so that she can have something while she waits.

Unfortunately for her, she hasn't yet caught on that weetabix does not take a long time to make, and a slice of cake is not a suitable pre-breakfast appetiser!!

[janeyo]

I got fed up of my little boy asking for things. So he now gets pocket money even though he's only 4. He gets 20p a day and this goes up or down depending on how helpful he's been, what good sand bad things he's done.
Gor instance if he feeds the cats the crunchies in the morning he gets a penny. He was a good boy at the dentist and got an extra 5 pennies that day. If he snatches things off his brother he gets a penny off. It's been going since about xmas and works really well. Most weeks he gets about 1.50. It also encourages him to want to be helpful and to think twice before doing something silly.

He then buys himself a comic or some sweets or a little toy, or he saves them up and gets something bigger that he claims he 'really wants'. Bigger items he has to wait til b-day or xmas but we are lucky that his b-day is in July so b-day and xmas are spaced quite nicely. he will get his money box and ask me if he has enough pennies for a 'blah blah' and we decide if he has and if he really wants it or if there might be something he wants more and will play with more. Luckily woolies has closed so we don't have a toy shop in town anymore that certainly helped with the 'I want'.

He is catalogue obsessed - but then so is OH and the pair of them will happily sit with the argos catalogue for hours! We even get my son his own copy as when we only had one it didn't last very long without ripping. I even caught the toddlie looking through it yesterday - he is obviously deciding what he wants for his birthday too lol.

As my eldest is only 4 if he sees an advert for something I normally tell him you have to be 6, 7, 8 etc so he then says can I have it when I am 6 and I say of course, knowing he will have forgotten all about it in 2 years lol. Sneaky me!

[SarzWix]

Thinking about it, the "I want this" thing has decreased an awful lot since I cancelled Sky...

[di]

BBC is deffo the way to go!!!

[Mikey]

We don't have Sky, but there is an obscene amount of adverts for children on Milkshake in the morning. About 30 in a 4 min slot between the programmes, surely this is a little excessive.

[janeyo]

My 2 don't generally watch live telly. I record them a few bits that I LIKE (rather than what they want to watch that is too old for them) on the freeview digibox recorder box thing (don't have sky) and then we zap the adverts. Rather similar to how I watch grown up telly too....

[RedThorn]

We use the "I want = no" with DD(she's 4) and if she really want's something, she has to help clean the chicken house etc. However as she honestly earn't the money, we do not judge if she spends it on something we don't think is reasonable(eg boot fair was selling candy floss at £1,50 for a small bag), we advise but if she is adamant, we let her... then was she saw something else at the boot fair she wanted, it was .... sorry you do not have enough money .... You could almost see the brain working overtime she accepted it and now thinks a bit before buying

On the whole she's pretty good though. She even asked us just after last Christmas if she could pack some toys to send to children who didn't get anything.

[pipscariad]

We don't have telly, and so their exposure to ad's is very limited, 'tis great. Luckily they are also developing a wonderfully jaundiced outlook on things like advertising, and similarly to Flum Jnr, point out the shortcomings of things to their more gullible friends!

[julesapple]

Just Say No....

......We did with our four.

For most of their younger years we hadn't two pennies to rub together, so they knew they couldn't have everything they wanted. They also knew that making demands equalled an unequivocal 'No'. Today they are all responsible with their own cash earned from weekend jobs etc and have a healthy respect for money.

I can remember the 'designer' argument with the daughter when she was about 9. The girl next door had been taken shopping and had come home with designer jeans, trainers etc, and the DD was fairly envious.

This was when flared jeans had made a come back (about 1998?) and were bedecked with braid and embroidery. I explained to the DD about the cost of designer stuff and how most of it was rubbish not quality (and made by poor people abroad who earned a pittance) so it was really a waste of precious cash. She was disappointed and sulked for a little while, but rallied hugely when I bought braids and ribbon and sewed them onto her perfectly good jeans. I also bought cheap trainers and she decorated those herself with fabric paints I already had.

The girl next door was then having a screaming headfit at her Mum because Philippa had something she didn't! Which helped Philippa feel much better.

The three boys have never bothered much. They were always into classic toys such as Lego, which was passed down along with the Brio train set. We have though, in the past few years, acquired many games consoles and computerised things. The deal with these is if we buy the console for Christmas or b/days the boys have to buy their own games.

Our kids have never had pocket money. They are expected to help out around the house and work as a team because we are a big family. When OH became disabled this rule was a huge help, because my kids will now do jobs voluntarily especially they can see that I don't have the time or the hands to do everything. OH is still disabled but has improved hugely and things are on an even keel where chores are concerned. The kids still do the dishes, look after each other and help each other with school/college work, but they now have more time to themselves.

They're growing into helpful, intelligent, polite indepent young people now and we are both incredibly proud of them. The oldest has a MA in Chemistry (Hons) and is also now £23,000 in debt in order to gain his degree, the DD is just completing her Animal Management BTEC and starts work full time at a local Falconry as soon as she graduates next month, and the youngest two are at secondary school.

It's only now that I can stand back and think Hey! I wasn't that bad a parent after all!

Jules