Bday present for 7yo

[Fuckitletshavevino]

I’ve never been into computer consoles. They wasn’t a big part of my life, this was over 25 years ago. My son wants one for his birthday next week. I’ve said no. Aibu? I know times have changed. What do I do? I can afford one....just

Why did you say no?

My 7 year old has and loves his Nintendo ds, but we've said no to getting a console (Nintendo switch) at least for this year as they are so expensive, he doesn't get that much time just at home, and I think he'll get a lot more out of it in coming years compared to now. It's so personal though, my niece had a huge array of games consoles by about age 5!

What are your reasons for saying no? What would you get instead?

Is it a Nintendo Switch? The recommended age is 6+

I wish I'd never have got the Xbox it's the cause of all upset in my head.

I would go for a ds co hand held is still fun but nit as addicting imo

Because I don’t want him to be stuck in front of a machine. He doesn’t listen at the best of times so trying to get him off it would mean confiscation every night

House not head...

So you set ground rules and stick to them

He loves his movies. I’d rather pay for sky movies with the thing that makes others have access in the home on other things

He won’t stick to ground rules. Separated parents his dad lets him do whatever he wants and rewards bad behaviour with bribes. I refuse to do that.

What about an iPad/tablet? That way he can watch movies and play games

Holding off on them for my DS aged 7. He got two computer games to play on laptop with his father for Christmas but I don’t want to get him a console etc yet. Hoping we can make it till ages 9 or over...

Would you rather he watched a movie for over an hour than play a game for the same time? And some of the video games are actually pretty decent, I watched my 10yr old play Uncharted the other day and was amazed by the problem solving and skill needed. Both of my DSs have consoles, ds1 loves his but ds2 who is 7 isn’t too fussed. We just make sure we set limits for ds1 and stick to them

I'm with you OP however, I've have just allowed my DS7 and DD9 to have their own tablets... we have strict rules and settings. They have Amazon Fire and as part of the kids settings they have to do 30 mins of educational stuff before they can access the other games and that's for a limited time too. It's actually been great for their maths. Could that be an option?
So far I've not been asked to buy a games console like an X box or something. It would be a no. I just want my kids to really be able to play and socialise while they're young. I'm sure I'll lose them to technology when they're older. You're not being unreasonable. You're the adult and if you feel it's not right, or not right yet then that's fine.