61 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

Let's recap the question from a more objective viewpoint... as right now the premise for the actions which have been taken seem to be incorrect (at best.) The boy has been behaving well academically ...
James Snell's user avatar
  • 5,130
51 votes
Accepted

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

There's a middle ground between requiring the card to be protected, and saying nothing, and that's to inform the child what makes the card special, but then let the child choose what to do with the ...
Wayne Conrad's user avatar
  • 1,972
49 votes

Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?

I think that having a lot of things for your baby or kid is not a good thing, like toys or any other distraction (ipad, presents, bad food with sugar). This could create a behavior of only doing ...
Nard Dog's user avatar
  • 531
40 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

Buy him a set of sleeves. Sleeves for trading cards are cheap, and basically every adult who plays trading card games uses them - and when decks for these games can cost hundreds of dollars, they have ...
nick012000's user avatar
36 votes
Accepted

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

From a more general angle. We allow kids in the family to use tablets, but of course this is under supervision. There is a dedicated docking station where the tablets are. Tablets must be used ...
thisiswhatwedo's user avatar
20 votes

Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?

At that age, there are pros and cons to having lots of toys, generally they're very superficial. For example: Pro: Very easily bored baby has lots of variety Con: Parents have lots of picking up to ...
WordsandNumbers's user avatar
18 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

In my experience, most children at age 7 do not really understand the value of things in monetary terms. They generally have not yet had to make their own decisions around earning, managing or ...
BadHorsie's user avatar
  • 361
16 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

What should you do? Nothing, you are not the parent, you just gave a gift that was deemed appropriate by the parents. You wrote yourself that you didn't have a Nintendo when you were little but all ...
GuestUser123's user avatar
13 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

mentioning a very rare card that he wishes he had doesn't automatically translate into hoping you would get it for him, let alone it being likely that he will be glad he received it if you do get it ...
Will's user avatar
  • 231
10 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

My children (8 and 6) were recently given a tablet by my in-laws. We (the parents) keep possession of it, and let them use it under our supervision as an occasional treat, or for educational ...
Chris Sunami's user avatar
  • 6,193
7 votes

Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?

This article with headline "Too many toys are bad for children, study suggests" writes about this issue: Researchers at the University of Toledo in Ohio, US, recruited 36 toddlers and invited ...
hlovdal's user avatar
  • 212
7 votes
Accepted

English present for a non-English child?

If possible, it would be nice to ask the parents. They may want to delay the introduction to English until formal schooling in order to encourage better usage and avoid undermining primary language ...
William Grobman's user avatar
7 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

You should make use of the tablet's child restrictions features to help your child control himself until he demonstrates the maturity to have more permissions. I would suggest to make yourself the ...
mike's user avatar
  • 354
7 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment by giving him the card. It's very likely that your nephew will love the card, but like my kid, he will love the card to death. It's also likely ...
Mohair's user avatar
  • 171
6 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

At this point, the tablet has been confiscated and is controlled by your father. There's not really such a thing as "ungifting" something and since you are not the custodian of your little brother, ...
Erik's user avatar
  • 8,335
6 votes

My 4-year-old wants fairy to grant her wishes - how to keep the magic alive without always having to buy presents?

This made me smile. I have a daughter 15 now, but at similar age she also used to post wishes to the fairy. We actually had a fairy in one of the flower pots at home and although it is now a bit ...
Lovingdad's user avatar
  • 107
5 votes

My 4-year-old wants fairy to grant her wishes - how to keep the magic alive without always having to buy presents?

Make a chart with a set of boxes (less than 10, more than 2), each big enough to fit a sticky note (or use a whiteboard or blackboard or ... whatever). Keep the wishes in each box and mark the fairy's ...
Ian MacDonald's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Occasional Gift or Daily Reward?

Honestly, I avoid that approach. I don't reward at all. I also do not punish. My children are permitted at times to work toward something they want but it's over and above normal things they do ...
threetimes's user avatar
  • 7,330
5 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

He's only seven years old and really doesn't have the maturity to understand why one of the cards he plays with should be kept in a box (seriously, at seven, you want to play with your toys, not just ...
Paddy's user avatar
  • 181
5 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

I'd like to bring some specific experience here: I'm a Pokémon league organizer for a league of 7-8 year olds (pre-pandemic, and hopefully again post!), and a parent of two children who collect, and ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 62.7k
4 votes

Teacher appreciation week

Bring them something that they can share rather than individual presents. Maybe you can bring them lunch or send cupcakes or chocolates or coffee. Alternately, find out if there's something that the ...
Catija's user avatar
  • 1,193
4 votes

My 4-year-old wants fairy to grant her wishes - how to keep the magic alive without always having to buy presents?

Maybe just use something like Santa and say that the fairy only brings toys (or large gifts or whatever) on special occasions like a birthday or other designated day. This way you set up expectations ...
Becuzz's user avatar
  • 13.3k
3 votes

Explaining to a child the issues of inappropriate content and helping them pick cleaner games? Comforting a child after having to take away an Item?

This is a challenging conversation to be sure, but hopefully it's not the first time you've talked about appropriateness of things with the child - by 8, you should be expecting her to regularly ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 62.7k
3 votes

Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?

At your daughter's age, there is plenty of time to work it out. A one year old has no sense of possessions, they own the world. See how it goes. As the child matures up to teenage, I wouldn't ...
Curious I's user avatar
3 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

This is really simple: kids and animals will mess things up or break them. That's life. If it's a gift to him, it's his to break. None of you should get attached to the tablet or anyone else's gift ...
Steve's user avatar
  • 47
3 votes

Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?

I learned with my son that at this age they tend to lose interest quickly, even with new toys. You could try to explain this to your child’s grandma and say to her in a nice way that you really ...
MissDW's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes

Giving a gift: require that it stays in good condition, or let the child figure it out?

I assume the card isn’t that expensive that the loss in monetary value hurts you. What you weigh up is his pleasure in receiving the card, and your displeasure if it gets destroyed because he is ...
gnasher729's user avatar
  • 1,537
2 votes

9-year-old received tablet as gift, but he does not have the self-control or maturity to own a tablet

Technically the simplest thing is to disable internet on the tablet. You can do this easily: wireless networks normally require the password, GSM networks require SIM card that can be removed. This ...
h22's user avatar
  • 236
2 votes

What kinds of presents for 0-6 year old children?

I may have a left-field answer that no one else has considered so far; with other people's children for whom I am buying presents. I tend to take them to the shop and let them choose. Specifically (...
MD-Tech's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes

Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?

You're mashing together some different things: - too many toys - sugar/sweets - ipad/tablet. Let's look at these independantly: Sweets: too much sweets is certainly bad for anyone, especially ...
Spacemoose's user avatar

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