to not be particularly pleased when ds comes home from nursery having read a book about all the monsters in Dr Who?

but franny's ds is NOT interested in dr who

one of his friends is

am confused.

don't really see why they are reading comix in nursery ANYWAY.

on a happy note, my 8 yr old ds1 appears to have grown out of Power Rangers - hooray.

you see I don't really watch Dr Who .. and neither do my kids .. although we did watch bits of the first series and I am happy for him to have the Dr Who Magazine because it encourages him in his reading and they always have great 'toys' attached

I personally feel its a balancing act between your judgements and your child's judgements which becomes a finer and finer line as they get older .. so whilst one might think Power Rangers are crap (and oh I do, as do most parents) the imaginative play DS gets out of Power Rangers' toys and activity books far outweigh the benefits of him not having them .. and yes he also has benign non-merchandised toys which he plays with .. sometimes the back story bonds the children

IME your child will go on a playdate and be introduced to a whole new world of things that you, as a mother, have managed to keep him away from. Especially true if playdate child has older siblings.

It's the first episode of the new series of Dr Who, Twig

My ds has playdates with other children as old as 8 and 9 and they are pretty good at finding common ground. This mass-media crap isn't the only thing children are capable of being fired up about it, and you are doing them a disservice (not to mention swallowing a dirty great cynical lie from the merchandising-media giants) if you feel that it is. IMO

in what programme do people drink other people's blood through a straw? .. fascinating

when DD was nearly 3 she also had her own toy gun

its more about being flexible and allowing other thoughts to change one's mind

but Greeny, I was thinking more about socialising on playdates, not at school.

So you didn't achieve what you set out to achieve, Twiggy. It's not our fault

Most kids don't carry portable TVs in their pockets, do they Iota? And none of the schools I have considered for ds1 have a policy of allowing toys into school from home. Of course you can't stop the talking about it - but the level at which that happens is still pretty rudimentary at this age I think. DS1 came out of nursery the other morning clutching a "Power Ranger" he'd made - it was a tomato punnet with some masking tape and a few fragments of pasta sellotaped to it. He was so proud of it. A bit of gentle questioning revealed that he had no idea whether a Power Ranger was animal, mineral or vegetable, nor did he much care. That's a far cry from sitting glued to the screen while aliens are drinking people's blood through a straw, IMO

when DS was 3 I was adamant that he would never own a toy gun

when DS was 4 I was adamant that he would never own a toy gun

when DS was 5 I was adamant that he would never own a toy gun

when DS was 6 he went to a cowboy party in cowboy hat, checked shirt, holster and toy gun

ROFL at self

6 and 3 Greeny

but I am wise beyond their years

Wow. I am hoping my Dr who mad 7 yr old will turn into a millionaire Terry Pratchett or Eofin Colfer. Where is the difference? Some of it is beautifully done. I think there is some dross but also some great imagination and also some solid points about humanity and man if you look close enough. More of a problem with PowerRangers, yeah, but in my exp. that is a bit more passing.

How come Dr Who is to be discouraged but a equally sci-fi/new age/witchcraft stuff like even Harry P, aforementioned Pratchett or Jasper Fforde is okay? Don't get it man.

How old are your kids, btw Twiglett?

how do you keep 5/6/7 yr olds away from Dr Who Spiderman etc and still let them socialise? Or do you restrict them to socialising only with children whose parents share your views?

Genuine question, as a mother of a 5 and 8 yr old

Yes, it's judgemental - I don;t think judgement is always a bad thing. It's my firmly held view on this sort of programming aimed at children, I've never made a secret of it. It's horseshit IMO.

I am not trying to suggest that at all .. I am pointing out how life as a parent changes as your child gets older .. and how it is difficult for parents to adjust to burgeoning independence

and greeny .. describing stuff as 'inapporpriate crap' is fairly judgemental no? Particualarly when its already been pointed out that many people see them as the modern equivalent of morality tales and Brother's Grim

I can see Aloha's point of view and Franny's I have one foot in each of those standpoints atm and it feels as though I am doing the splits rather painfully

I don't agree though Twiglett (as you know) that there is this laconic inevitability around the interests of children ot this this (still very young) age. I know 5/6/7yo boys who socialise perfectly well and have no peer problems at all but who have been kept away from inappropriate crap like Power Rangers/DrWho/Spiderman because their parents feel it is wrong and potentially damaging to expose a young child to graphic violence and mindless merchandising-oriented claptrap. With a bit of skill/effort one can play up a child's more socially appealing facets without selling out one's principles entirely.

But I haven't really hit the sharp end of this debate yet myself. My 4.8yo's current interests include biting me, eating clods of earth and wetting himself.

you can't dictate interests .. but I bet you have dictated boundaries

ie is he allowed to own toy guns?

or is he allowed to drink lemonade on special occasions?

there is no right answer for everybody there is just a right answer for you ... and that is your boundaries .. it is these boundaries that one starts to rethink because the more social they become the more external influences they have

child still needs to socialise though

I come to this thread with a totally different perspective, clearly. My ds has aspergers. it is pretty mild, I gather, adn his paediatrican confirms that. But his immunity to peer pressure is very much not to his advantage. His liking Dr Who because his peers do would be pretty bloody fantastic for us.

(Um. I think Frances is planning to home ed, so the 'inevitable' thing may not be about to happen to her ...)