Where spoiled kids come from

[LA_MERC_FragFood]

Re: this article, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/technology/29techtoys.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) this is where kids that expect everything come from. They've never had to work to get anything, and we wonder why they're such assholes when they're teenagers. Baggy pants and "screw you " attitude. A quote form the article:

"Standing near the front of the store, a 6-year-old named Sabrina, with a gap-tooth smile, explained that her No. 1 choice for a Christmas gift is an adult laptop.
“ ’Cause it’s cool,” she explained.
“Maybe when she’s 8,” said her mother, Amina, who declined to give her last name. She might, she said, have to yield when her daughter turns 7. "

WTF? Get her a set of coloring books and some blocks! Spend some time with her! Bake some freakin' COOKIES! F'Chrissakes! Tell her "NO!" for once!

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

LMAO!!


Grace, a 1-year-old in San Francisco, however, has been going through a decidedly nontechnology phase. Recently,
playtime has involved “putting little toys and dolls into bags and zipping them up,”

Well, NO S][IT! shes a 1 year old... Yep... shes already been cyco analyzed going through a Non Techy phase...
so what??? 6 months ago when she wasn't able to sit up on her own... she was surfing the internet for better tasting breast milk then her Moms??

If I ever have kids... I think im going to make mine build forts, and dig holes and split wood for fun...
thats what my dad did... My favorite toy as a kid was, hammer, nails, a shovel.. and splitting maul. " Look how I turned out...

I know.. All farked up.. but that wasn't why..LOL

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

This is sad, but a growing trend especially in large metropolitan areas. Parents worried to much with how to make the next buck, how to get the next big promotion, how to live a life with a kid, but not having to change a diaper once. These parents like to get together for play dates so the mothers can gossip or the fathers brag about how manly one is. I was living this life hard and fast when I decided to move to Montana and my life came to a grinding halt. Did I "loose" a lot of income, prosperity, and personal gain? I thought so at one time....now.....not in the least. I make very little in yearly salary, but I get so much in yearly life lived. I play hockey, football, baseball, and basketball daily with my son. I AM WILLING TO SPEND THE TIME to explain to him that this is "Daddy's" computer and that it means it is for Adults. Does he have a techno wiz bang thing.......yes. He has his "computer" that has shapes, colors, animals, musical instruments, etc.... on it. It gets played with prolly 1 time every 3 weeks. He would much rather rough up LaTech or be thrown around by Tech than play on a techno device.
Sorry about my rant on my soapbox. In closing I would tell these parents, "Spend more freaking time with your kids." Good friends will be there when it washes out, and bad friends will go to the wayside where they can stay. My wife and I had kids to HAVE kids, not to fulfill some need to pass on my jeans or fulfill an "American Dream." Kids DO NOT have a choice about coming into this world, so if we make that decision I think they deserve a little bit of our time post CONCEPTION.

Rook

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Oh and when "To Catch a Predator" shows up at Sabrina's housse.....someone can punch Amina in the year. What a dumb B!TCH!

[LA_MERC_WBHighwind]

Screw all you old farts!

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

My kids are pretty high tech (at least the ones that are 7 & 9), but they always prefer time with Mom and Dad over the electronics. Riding bikes, wrestling with Dad, board games, HL1 deathmatch against Dad, sipping tea with Mom & Dad in the playhouse always take priority. Plus they have plenty of chores to keep them humble. Stuff isn't the problem, but character is for many.

HW, you'll be one of those old farts before you know it (that's a good thing).

[Big_ch33se]

My kid gets kool stuff and all, but that is re****ulous. I would laugh at my kid if he came at me with that.