To think dh has bought a completely unsuitable telescope for ds1 and thereby ruined Christmas?

[lecce]

Ok, I am exaggerating about the ruined Christmas bit, but I have just looked under the bed and am completely taken aback by the size of the telescope dh has got for ds1 (will be 7 in March).

Ds asked for a telescope for Christmas and dh and I chose one together from Amazon (it was the National Geographic one for children). Then dh, on chasing it up when the delivery date came and went, found that the seller had gone bust so he got a refund and bought another one.

It came today and it's massive. It is about half the length of our bed and looks quite bulky overall, though I haven't taken it out of the box. I can't see how ds will be able to do anything with it alone as it will be so unwieldy and difficult to manage, from what I can tell. I don't know where we will have the space to set it up or store it. I am also worried it will be too powerful, as dh excitedly tells me it has a filter for looking at the moon.

I am so worried it is going to be a massive flop after ds has been so excited about the prospect of gertting one (he doesn't know he definitely is.) Is dh an idiot for not thinking this through? He told me when he bought it that it wasn't 'really' for children, but that a few of the reviewers had mentioned it being good for 'younger astronomers', but not 6 year olds, I'm guessing...

It'll be great. DH has an 8" dobsonian reflector which quite frankly looks like Hubble in our lounge. The boys (5&7) know how to angle it to look at the moon, how to track and find planets, how to use a Mylar filter for looking at the sun - and yes they know never to look at the sun without us there.

DH mostly sets it up on the balcony outside but it's light enough to put in the back of the car to find somewhere with less light pollution if we feel like it.

The only real problem is that in summer it gets dark too late to use it and in winter it's too cold! Hot chocolate and warm woollies vital accessories :)

How fantastic - I'd love to buy my DS one! Goes off to research cost of telescopes...

he's going to love it it my guess!! esp as you have the perfect place to set it up.

We got the NG one for DD and twas indeed rubbish. Only useful if we had wanted to peer in on our neighbours which funnily enough, we dont. We quickly replaced it with the proper job which was far far better.

what model is it op?

Just joining in the chorus of 'how great'! My dd (was about 8 when she got it) has a proper adult telescope and it is great fun taking it outside when there's something interesting to see- but it does need adult involvement. I think he'll be made up- and your husband did the right thing if you have a child interested in astronomy.

Looking at the moon through my brothers telescope when I was 5 is a very fond memory of mine. Seeing thecraters blew my little mind.

IIt's an excellent present!

He hasn't ruined Christmas. Goodness me, such a first world drama! I would take ds to a shop and see if he can manage the controls first.

That telescope sounds amazing. My wonderful dad died just over a year ago. At his funeral, one of the special memories I wanted mentioned was our nights in the garden star-watching together with the telescope he bought he.

Most winters (when the sky was clear) we would be consulting our star books and spotting planets, star clusters and nebulae. Dad only got into it because I was interested.

My mum told me after the funeral that Dad used to say 'oh no, another clear night. Time to be outside freezing for an hour' then never let on to me that he'd rather be in the warm. Lovely Dad.

So, I may be incredibly biased (and a little jealous because my telescope could certainly do with upgrading), but that present is wonderful. Also, being powerful means that there is more chance of DS remaining interested for longer.

They look bigger in the box. There will be lots of packaging. They also need to be a decent size to be any good.

Sounds like your DH has got a good one. No point having rubbish.

depends where you live. If you are in the middle of a city where it is never dark, waste of time.

otherwise a good telescope is fascinating, will teach him some science rather than all the arty-farty-x-factor crap that floats around. And what is your exact worry about 'too powerful'?

My dh has a decent telescope, and we are in a big City - I'm not really that interested so haven't spent much time looking, but it really is incredible what you can see. Not a waste of time at all.

We have our telescope permanantly set up in the conservatory ,it's quite large and is a bit of a display item as we hardly use it ,but it looks good .

Speaking as a former 7-year-old boy, HELL YES YABU. I've just looked up the NG one, it's nearly as gash as the one I was bitterly disappointed by at that age.

Ds has a telescope, it's not a children's one but it's also not a huge 'proper' one. He's 6 and loves it, over the summer dh would take them out into the garden to look at the stars and that marshmallow over the fire pit. They loved it, it gave them some lovely quality time with daddy while I was at work instead of just pjs, tv and bed. Just yesterday dd asked when they could toast marshmallows outside and Ds today on way to beavers was saying he should have taken his telescope as there were loads of stars.

We have National Geographic one. Size is handy but it is crap!
My husband is as surprised by the children's birthday and Xmas presents as they are - because he does diddly squat towards choosing them!
Your son will love it and grow into it. Yeah, storage might be an issue but think of the pleasure and pride he'll have in owning a real adult one!