Nintendo DS - too young?? OH objecting and being tight!

Scarlett1

RoxieW wrote: »

Hi Scarlett - no its not that at all. I twisted his arm for the center parcs countdown to christmas trip when he'd rather stay home, go for a walk in the woods (free) and take the kids to the local grotto! We also recently had a very kidcentric holiday in spain (he hates the sun) as I wanted it for the kids. The reason I'm relenting on this is because he seems to have a very strong opinion on it and if I had a very strong opinion on why the kids shouldnt have something I'd expect him to respect that. And I'm running with the bedroom idea because its very rare he gets involved in very much to do with the kids and would normally let me decide bedroom schemes, xmas pressies etc. I'm happy for him to do it if its something to involve him more with the kids.


Think about it - if you had thought your dd too young for a console - and felt strongly that she shouldnt have one, but your OH went and bought her one anyway you'd be a bit miffed would you not? I know I would.

No I wouldn't be miffed I would just put it away until I felt it was age suitable, if you do buy it then you can always put it away if you felt it wasn't being used properly, I also think that decorating a child's bedroom is something that should be done any way and not for a present for christmas, although buying bits for it like duvets and toy boxes and wrapping them up will make it more a present

starryeyed_2

Hi, my son is 8. He has all the gadgets, (not my doing, mainly grandparents arggh! ) and the best thing he still plays with all the time is his PSP which he's had for 2 years now. Forget the DS far too fiddly, the little pen can get lost and the games not as good as PSP. Hope this helps Also if you were planning to get them one each they can play against one another on them. my son and his cousin have a blast doing this. X

Carmina_Piranha_3

you can watch films on a PSP too, useful in the car.

crazyaboutsaving

DS's are definately good for 4-6 year olds, there's loads of good games on the DS, including learning games like Maths training, etc. The Wii is good too, but tends to start collecting dust even faster than a DS. How about purchasing preowned DSs? They're like new, only less expensive and not such a hit on the pocket if the kids don't like them as much....

Carmina_Piranha_3

I'm surprised at how many people are advising the OP to go against her husband's wishes on this A bit more discussion first might help. If OP's husband works in the gaming/IT industry he may be privy to research we don't know about, or could just feel REALLY strongly about this issue.

My mother wanted to buy BB guns for the grandchildren a couple of years ago. I said no. If she had gone ahead and wrapped one up for my son I'd have been furious on christmas day :mad:

buxtonrabbitgreen

I am with all the others about the bedroom. Have I got this right ? they will now have to share a bedroom which they didn't have to before the imminent arrival of baby. If so I don't think they would be delighted about this for a present. As for the ds, I got my dd one last christmas when she was 13 she gets a lot of enjoyment out of it and it is what she wanted. However my gd was 5 when she got hers and didn't bother with it at all until recently she is 10 now. I think her reading ability wasn't good enough for her to be able to play the games.

Spendless

I wouldn't get anything that my husband had said a definate no to, after all I'd be fuming if he did it. I might do my best to [STRIKE]wear him down[/STRIKE] talk him round.

I did wonder if they would like the bits for their bedrooms for their xmas pressie, and only you and hubby will know that. I got my eldest yu-gi-oh bedding and curtains this year, pain in neck to find cos he likes the old stuff that's no longer made and we missed out on e-bay several times, often by seconds! When we did get it, he was thrilled and wrote in a book that I'd bought him to improve his handwriting that it was in the top 3 things he'd save in a fire:D The others were his playstation and ds;) but I'm not totally sure he'd have liked it as a birthday/xmas pressie. He doesn't like receiving clothes though he will say a polite thank you.

Are you still looking for suggestions for just 1 larger item, to save on clutter for when new baby gets here? Do they have bikes and if they do have you checked to make sure they haven't out-grown them? My 2 had new bikes 2 years ago and they are ready for new ones already.

nikaso

RoxieW wrote: »

maybe - OH isnt keen on a wii either though - he's a ps3 man through and through. Will look into it though as i quite fancied a wii fit

I am a PS3 / XBox 360 man as well and I got a Wii, trust me, he WILL like it! I got a Wii-Fit with mine and its great, in fact, unplugged the Xbox 360 and use the Wii mostly now!

Still go back to Xbox 360 when I want more adult games but the Wii is great for all ages.

RoxieW

Hi all
Thank you for all the replies -just reading through them as we've been away this weekend.
OH has suggested that we get a wii to share and play together so it may be a good compromise. I think its the solitary nature of the DS he doesnt like - he thinks there's many years ahead when they'll want to sit alone and play games and that we shouldn't encourage it at this early age. To him its a bit of a no brainer if I say well we wont let them play on it much etc - he'd just say well why bother getting them one then.

I wouldnt go against him and buy something that he really doesnt want them to have. I respect my husband and his views and I think that if I felt strongly about them not having something he would respect my views also.

I appreciate the views on the bedroom as I did feel the same at first. But on thinking about it I do thin our boys will appreciate it. They will be especially excited at the bunkbeds. It is something that we would have been doing anyway but it seems nice to have it done as a surprise for xmas morning. They will be getting presents as well as and, all in all, we will be spending in the region of around £700 on the two of them, plus a christmas holiday so I really dont think they will feel hard done to at all. They wouldnt be disappointed even if they only had a few presents to open on christmas morning as its not about quantity to them at that age, they're just happy that its christmas and they've got presents - they dont tend to notice how much they've got. But - I can guarantee they'll have stacks of gifts - 5 or 6 from us and then umpteen from other people!

I like the suggestion of the books and the vouchers - I do ask for books from family and last year I spent £100 on books for them - they love books and reading.The idea of cinema etc vouchers is a good one - however, our family members would rather buy them presents they an open - even if its endless plastic tat - and its not something I'd feel comfortable denying them or the kids.

Thanks again all