Grandson Gift

[JS43]

My grandson wants a gaming pc. I bought second hand one for his birthday but neither his mum or dad (my son) will have it in their homes saying they don't have the space. He won't get the use out of it in mine. They do have the space and I feel they are just being spiteful. Grandson is going to miss out on something he really wants! I now also have to buy something else for his birthday on top of having already bought this. So angry!

Gaming is addictive for some children. Does dgs have an addictive personality? He would need a desk and chair, steering wheel and games which cost £50 upwards for 1 game. Games go out of fashion quite quickly. If he wants to play will he be giving up on a sport or club he currently goes to to in order to game? No reason why you can't let him have it at your house. He will want to be with you far more I expect in order to game. Don't expect to get a conversation out of him though as gamers don't like to be interrupted whilst they game. You should have asked his parents permission to get the game system not just mentioned it in passing.

I think at your house is fine. Gaming too often is addictive for a teen and hard for parents to police. If it’s at yours it will naturally be restricted as he doesn’t live there

I think that it is always wise to speak to the parents about such a big gift before you buy. Issues such as space and wanting to control/reduce gaming time may make parents reluctant.

The thing also with gaming computers is the additional costs of making them operational above just getting the computer many require quite a lot of additional equipment such as desks, chairs, steering wheels/joy sticks plus the considerable costs of buying the games themselves,

Who's mother are you?

His parents didn’t want him to have one. If they had; and it was only cost that was a barrier; they’d probably have got him to ask people for money towards it, or given him a contribution towards it.

Is the spec of it up to what he wants it for? That’s difficult to find in affordable second hand computers…

Anyway; you’ve trodden on some toes here and you’d probably be best to either set it up at your house or sell it on, and leave the bigger presents to his parents.

DS (11) was given a PS4 by my brother at Christmas, my dad wanted to give him a TV to go with it. DBro had asked me (it had been his and he wanted to give it to his nephew rather than sell it on) to check I was happy for him to have it. We do let him use the PS4, under supervision, because he would otherwise spend too long on it. We declined the TV because we don't agree with TVs in bedrooms, and don't have one in our room either. When I said no to my dad, he then tried asking DH instead, which annoyed both of us. Tbh, I can see why your DGC's parents turned this down. You asked your DGC what he wanted and got it for him without consulting the adults who care for him. Count yourself luck he hadn't asked for an e-scooter. And when he's older and says he wants a small car, please tell him to ask his parents. I know you meant well, but you've undermined his parents. They're probably behind the scenes trying to palm this off on each other so neither has it but neither is the bad parent. I'd be really annoyed to have just been presented with a gaming PC because my DS is a good kid.

Also, if he lives with siblings, what age are they? We have a big age gap so have issues with him having games that are 12+ with a toddler around, so he's limited to more family friendly games. What will you be buying for the siblings of a similar value? It might have been better as a whole family gift next Christmas, once you'd agreed the parameters. here's hoping he never asks for a Porsche then just expects mum and dad to insure it