Excitable Edgar is that child in your kids’ class who has never been told where the boundaries of acceptable behaviour lie

[avocadoze]

I cannot get emotional about this years JL advert. The whole village gets together to make the square look absolutely beautiful and this dragon just goes and trashes it. He melts the ice and stops them ice skating and he messes up the snowman. Not cute. Just cute-looking. I’m not seeing why his parents haven’t stepped in to explain the need to be considerate. Basically, Edgar is a PITA who looks cute, and we’ve all known kids like that in our children’s classes. AIBU to fail to feel the Christmas spirit here?

I see it more like when people get a "pet" with a high prey drive, then are horrified when it displays typical traits. They just want it to look cute/exotic, and expect it will automatically acclimatise. It can only redeem itself if it uses its trait(s) for a human benefit.

Maybe read this

theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2019/11/14/edgar-the-dragon/

As long as people are talking about it it's a winner for JL.

Wrong choice of song though imo.

I see @Elderflower14 beat me to it!!!

I think most very young children get overexcited at some point in the run up to Christmas. And as parents we might manage this by finding something they can do to help.

But mostly, it’s just an advert.

OTOH I have just cried at the “show your high street some love” advert from visa so perhaps I do have a soul

@Crunchymum I shared it on Twitter and got a thankyou from the blogger. He seems a really nice guy... ☺

Where is his/her mum and dad? Why is he being held hostage by a band of human abductor’s? Haven’t they seen Game of Thrones?

Yes, the child like Edgar in my ds2 class, was ds2.
It gives a clear message and YABU, there's nothing wrong with being different.
There are several Edgars in some classes and they aren't having a good time of it, thanks to cut in support and parents happy to alienate them from their children and needs addressing.

I think it’s quite offensive for you to object to the “othering” of kids with SN when you are criticising the parenting of kids with this kind of behaviour (Ds & dd wernt diagnosed until aged 12/13 and Ds in particular was labelled the naughty kid and ostracised) & these kids themselves and their parents are identifying with the sentiments.

Dd is 18 now. The ad reduced her to tears (in a good way). I think I’m buying her an Edgar for Xmas.

The alternative ad made me cry. Wow.

Op if everyone thought like you when fire was discovered someone would have thrown a bucket of water on it quick and never spoken of it again.

Half the fun of snowmen is seeing them melt. Skating on thin ice is a bad idea and I never let my children out on a frozen pond. The townsfolk's decorations were a fire hazard in waiting.

Exactly the right choice of song and singer imho - all about embracing the challenge of possibility and hope in those you love - I bet Jesus was THAT child.

Does Edgar have issues?

I quite like the advert last year

Mind you, watching paint dry for an advert would be an improvement for last years

This year**

I see why the Op said what she did, and I also see where other parents are coming from.

Where he lights the pudding at the end, he clearly controls the fire. So what has changed between the uncontrolled fire, where he spoils things, and the Christmas pudding where he controls it? Nothing we see except they're cross and he's upset about it. That implies he could have controlled it before and chose not to.
I would have liked to either have a small scene of him trying to control it, and gradually managing to with help.
Or they could have had him bring a huge pudding on wheels and do the full fire works on that. The pudding would then have fed the whole crowd too.

And the snowman didn't look melted, it looked flattened.

I still want to know what was in the box that the very excited little boy took into his parents' bedroom in, I think, 2012! The box looked sort of 'head-shaped' and I did wonder about him.

I hadn’t seen the ad until I saw this post. Edgar reminds me so much of my DS with ADHD, wanting to join in and be a part of everything like other children, wanting to do his best and be liked, trying so hard to keep control of his emotions and behaviour (so much harder than neurotypical children will ever have to) and finally losing control and being devastated and annoyed with himself.
The villagers and the OP remind me of the reactions we have to deal with from other parents who have no idea what he is struggling with!
OP I’d love to know how you can tell which children have never been taught boundaries and which have SEN, real Edgars aren’t green, scaly and firebreathing

I can’t tell who has SEN and who’s poorly parented. (Otherwise I’d patent it). I also can’t see anything I’ve posted on this thread which suggests that I can, or that I lack empathy for people with SN.

I am also convinced that not all inconsiderate behaviour in children arises from SN, not that SN children necessarily behave inconsiderately. The OP didn’t mention SN, because the advert didn’t make me think of it.

You can’t seriously be suggesting that all instances of bad behaviour come from SN?

Without having read the full thread, I have an almost 5 yr old Edgar. He's very impulsive and finds is very difficult to hold back. It's not because his parents haven't told him what's acceptable or set boundaries, but more that he can't control himself. Believe me, his parents have had a very difficult 5 years trying.

I think however, the main point of the ad is that everyone has their strengths and something to contribute to society.

I have a four year old Edgar, the joys of trauma and neglect. Unlike Edgar I can’t make a stuffed toy version and sell loads and make loads of money.

I can’t tell who has SEN and who’s poorly parented. (Otherwise I’d patent it).

Why? You don't need to know. You'd only need to know if you were attempting to judge the behaviour/ parenting. Oh wait a minute...

theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2019/11/14/edgar-the-dragon/?fbclid=IwAR2MvjTyAOUlyY0oxXKpb1vxGLKOwnI3B-n3BTKY_BS45LZers72RuLQLI8

@treeofwhispers can you point out where I suggested I needed to know? Can you quote the post where I have judged the children of SN parents?

There seems to be quite a bit of muddled thinking where observing that there exist children who are inconsiderate because they haven’t been taught boundaries is conflated with criticising PP’s SN children. I do think there are children without SN who misbehave, and I’m flummoxed that so many other posters are appearing to be willing to attribute all bad behaviour to SN.

OP the suggestion that you would 'patent it' (the being able to know who has SEN) and your obvious concern over the 'poorly parented' shows your (over) investment in the issue. Your initial OP does too, the assumption that a child misbehaving is due to poor parenting.

I do think there are children without SN who misbehave, and I’m flummoxed that so many other posters are appearing to be willing to attribute all bad behaviour to SN. 

I just think you are appearing judgmental, full stop, over people's parenting and children's behaviour. Why do you have to make the distinction with regards to the reason for bad behaviour? Parenting is challenging. People can and do make mistakes whilst having completely good intentions. Why act so superior and above it all (shown in your freely doled out criticism of parents)? One of the things that is soul destroying, when parenting children with additional needs, (that incidentally can take years to diagnose), is being treated like a feckless parent. Not even feckless parents deserve the sort of derision that is doled out.