You can tell me I am, I cana take it - AIBU to ban my DCs from telling me what they want to buy/be bought next today?

[BalloonSlayer]

They are both looking wounded and offended.

It's getting to the point that "Mummy . . . There's this lego set/bag/item of Hello Kitty Shiteola/ DS game I reeeeeeally want" is taking the place of a morning greeting, and in the case of DS1 (9) is just about the only conversation he ever starts with me. Apart from "What's for tea?"

Today I flipped and said I did not want any conversation based on what they wanted to buy next - even if it is their own money.

So, Mumsnet jury, am I horrible and U.

I can take it...

Title should say "I can take it." I am not Scottish.

YANBU

Is it at it's worst following tv ads between childrens programs on certain channels?

I banned all discussion of anything brought to their attention by forceful marketing means

(i.e. "if you keep paying more attention to the ads than the program, the tv's going off")

YANBU. It is very annoying and also makes me feel I've a bred a completely materialistic, greedy child.

When DP was little his parents didn't let him and his brother watch channels with ads on them so they never saw all the crap available to them so never asked for it.

i just sya " Oh yes"
when they admire an advert
they feel heard
they think you will buy
they forget

To clarify, I said it in jest but they haven't taken the risk since

YANBU it's not on. It's OK for them to plan what to do with their money but not to be constantly asking. Sounds like a bad habit they've got into that needs nipping

Hmm it's not to do with the telly. It's to do with the argos catalogue, amazon, google. They get on the computer, stop me mumsnetting and look up all this stuff.

They intend to buy the stuff for themselves with their pocket money but never have enough money because ... erm ... they've spent all their pocket money on crap. This never seems to occur to them when they are begging me to take them into town to buy whatever, and when I ask them how much money they have actually got I get a look like this: .

Then they think they can finance all the stuff they want by taking all the DS games they bought in the Game shop for £10, back to the shop and the Game shop will buy them back for £15. Every time I try to explain the concept that the Game shop is a business and businesses are there to make a profit and that if they bought a pre-owned game for £10, the last owner would have got £5, they look at me as if I am some kind of evil witch, trampling on their dreams.

Hence the ban.

Well done for not pandering to it

Presents like that are for birthday and Christmas aren't they?!

Pocket money goes in a tin and when there's enough, then there is time for a discussion.

It's times like this that phrases such as 'I'm sure you do' and 'that sounds like something you want to save up for then' come in.

If that doesn't work I've found a long sit-down lesson on how advertising works tends to do the trick.

They are 9 and 8 and are now at the stage where they want money for birthdays (from rellies, not from us) so they can spend it. They have to learn how to spend their own money and "when it's gone, it's gone" sometime but it just doesn't seem to be going in.

YADNBU, ban and keep banned. Why just today?

Tell them you'll let them know when you're ready or able to buy a treat for them and any mention between here and then will delay your generosity

Or, let them go to the game shop (with a couple of less favoured games) and experience the cold harsh reality of materialistic loss and gain. If they genuinely don't believe that it is how it is, let them see for themselves.

SuSylvester, I do the exact same thing - I just say yes. Then they forget.

It's annoying though and the OP INBU to get fed up.

My DS2 is terrible for this. Money burns a hole in his pocket, as soon as he has it he has to spend it, and then thinks he can ask everybody to lend him money.

As soon as he has money the badgering starts. So this is what I say.

If he asks for something that he "really really really wants" I say to him, if you still really really want it in one month,I will take him to buy it. Then I remind him of the craptastic shite that he really wanted and bought, played with once and is sitting at the bottom of the toy box.

Then when he starts asking for something else that he really really wants a few days later I say the same thing and remind him that he asked for something else a few days ago so if he really wants the new thing then the month starts again.

It makes him put a bit more thorght into what he wants and also makes him think before tormenting me. Really he just wants to spend money more than he wants to get X,Y,or Z.