to have refused point blank to buy my 4yo ds a wii, xbox, ds or similar for xmas

[Madbutmeanswell]

and to not consider doing so for many years yet?

In fairness my ds has never asked for one- its the other mums I have been chatting to at school gate who seem to think all kids need at least one or the will be 'left' out, I think this annoys me more.

Its hard enough getting him active enough, interested in reading enough etc with just tv to compete with.

To be honest, it's the games that become the pain-in-the-arse expense.

NO
YADNBU

I am annoyed with sister who bought Wii for Ds with not consultation or warning....

My 3 year old has a DS.

Because it was bought third hand for DS1 last Xmas (when he was 5) for £40. DS1 demonstrated that he could look after it etc, and so got a 3DS this year, the old one has been handed down to the baby.

It's remarkable how well he can use it, actually.

It's just another toy/ another way of playing, I attach no moral value to owning one. Although I don't allow them unlimited use, just as I don't allow unlimited counting of top trumps cards (DS1 has ASD, basically it's either things-with-screens or counting cards unless forcibly redirected!)

But then, I love technology. Ooh, shiny thing-with-screen!

Wait till their Christmas lists comprise a couple of £42 games.

Or they want the X-Box steering wheel and those bloody headphones.

YANBU - Each to their own but for me that is too young and uneccessary. However as others have said if he has not asked then you don't even need to worry about it yet.
There are always going to be parents who have differing opinions, mine are always right of course but I tend to take playground conversations with a pinch of salt these days!

My DS is 4.10 and I have no intention of buying DS. Wii etc for quite a while. I just don't agree with them for kids this age. I want him to draw on paper, learn how to hold a pen properly rather than be a whizz with a console.

I also believe that these gadgets are not great for concentration and can't think of anything worse than a load of small kids with their heads bent over a computer game not talking to each other.

Will run and hide......

My 9 year old DS has an X box and a DS which inevitably my 4 year old wants a shot of, I keep it the X box in the living room so its easier to monitor use. They both love games on it - but yes they also read, draw, bake, cook, play etc - I dont get this "oh games consoles are bad and stop children from doing normal childhish play" at all

If you dont want your child to have a console thats fine as its up to you, but I find a lot of these type of posts are stealth boasting (and note Im not saying that about anyone here - yet) about being a better parent.

buy what you want, he's your child, agree with others though, don't judge others that do have these things - Dd has a wii, not one of the games she has on it is a sitting down game, they are all active a give her abit of a work out, she also has an ipad (i'm ready for a flaming after admitting that!) it has loads of educational apps that we use alongside normal learning activities, but she doesn't realise she is learning, she thinks she is playing.

Of course YANBU!

We have two teens in the house with a variety of 'screens'. They started quite young (I think DSS was 6?) when they got the first playstation).

Based largely on observations of how that's worked out... Baby DD will not be having any such consoles until she is at least 12.

I don't give a crap what other kids have.

Not at all. I wouldn't want one for my 3.5 year old either for a very long time.

He plays games on the cbeebies website and does school homework (fronter/education city) on our laptop. We also have a family ipad which has a few educational games on it.

That's more than enough for now.

Thanks for your responses!!

I didn't mean to sound as though I was judging anyone who does buy them for their dc- I was just annoyed at the fact that other parents seemed to think that my ds or I were a bit odd for not wanting one.

And annoyed that i felt under pressure to buy something so expensive that I don't really want and he's not bothered about!

I now feel like a bit les of an oddity :o

We waited till DS was 7 and then went down the WII route as its more social and active than others.