The Parenting Thread - let's talk about our kids here

[The Leveller]

My kids love the Minecraft sets. They have three smaller sets and I buy some loose animals from Bricklink. They really wanted an Ender Dragon and I picked up a loose set on the Dutch Craiglist. Still have to check if it's complete.

I love these big sets like the mountain or the village but I just can't justify to myself (or the wife) spending 200 euros on it. Too much standard bricks.

[gregpj]

Anyone deal in Thomas the Train stuff? I passed on a bunch of those trains @ 50% off. Their RRP is ridiculous.

You're fighting for pennies unless you can find the harder to find ones on sale (you likely won't). Kids move on from Thomas so fast...

[lazuli16]

16 minutes ago, gregpj said:

 

You're fighting for pennies unless you can find the harder to find ones on sale (you likely won't). Kids move on from Thomas so fast...

 

I have a storage tub full of new pre-fisher price Thomas trains that can support that statement.

[jonnyhanukkah]

24 minutes ago, lazuli16 said:

I have a storage tub full of new pre-fisher price Thomas trains that can support that statement.

I got about a year out of my son on most of the Thomas stuff - we bought him a Train table for his 3rd birthday but as soon as I assembled it that was the end of the Thomas love affair. I hope my daughter likes trains when she turns 2!

He spends most of his time now on Duplo building and Paw Patrol

[Fleck]

7 minutes ago, jonnyhanukkah said:

I got about a year out of my son on most of the Thomas stuff - we bought him a Train table for his 3rd birthday but as soon as I assembled it that was the end of the Thomas love affair. I hope my daughter likes trains when she turns 2!

He spends most of his time now on Duplo building and Paw Patrol

Am I the only one that thinks Thomas the Train is creepy looking ??? My boys watched Chugginton, and those did not seem as creepy.

[exciter1]

9 minutes ago, jonnyhanukkah said:

I got about a year out of my son on most of the Thomas stuff - we bought him a Train table for his 3rd birthday but as soon as I assembled it that was the end of the Thomas love affair. I hope my daughter likes trains when she turns 2!

He spends most of his time now on Duplo building and Paw Patrol

We have tons as well, including the massive $100+ deluxe roundhouse. Ugh, barely touched and in the basement now.  I have to drag stuff out and build with my 4 year old, although my son will play with her when I initiate it by beginning to put it together.

Just now, Fleck said:

Am I the only one that thinks Thomas the Train is creepy looking ??? My boys watched Chugginton, and those did not seem as creepy.

I thought the show was depressing, but my son watched it quite a bit.  He watched Chuggington too.

[mudcatsfan]

32 minutes ago, Fleck said:

Am I the only one that thinks Thomas the Train is creepy looking ??? My boys watched Chugginton, and those did not seem as creepy.

I never saw them as creepy, but I do question their obsession with "Usefulness".

Were English children so incredibly useless that they needed this constant bashing about the head?

Sesame Street at least mixes up the message every once in a while. "Be nice, don't talk to strangers, try new things"

Thomas be like, " BE USEFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

32 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

We have tons as well, including the massive $100+ deluxe roundhouse. Ugh, barely touched and in the basement now.  I have to drag stuff out and build with my 4 year old, although my son will play with her when I initiate it by beginning to put it together.

I thought the show was depressing, but my son watched it quite a bit.  He watched Chuggington too.

You guys are making me question the train table we bought for our 3 year old. Great to know it's a ticking time bomb of indifference.

[exciter1]

1 minute ago, mudcatsfan said:

I never saw them as creepy, but I do question their obsession with "Usefulness".

Were English children so incredibly useless that they needed this constant bashing about the head?

Sesame Street at least mixes up the message every once in a while. "Be nice, don't talk to strangers, try new things"

Thomas be like, " BE USEFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

You guys are making me question the train table we bought for our 3 year old. Great to know it's a ticking time bomb of indifference.

At least all of the stuff tucks nicely in bins on rollers under our custom made table my wife had her Dad make us. 

[lazuli16]

20 minutes ago, mudcatsfan said:

I never saw them as creepy, but I do question their obsession with "Usefulness".

Were English children so incredibly useless that they needed this constant bashing about the head?

Sesame Street at least mixes up the message every once in a while. "Be nice, don't talk to strangers, try new things"

Thomas be like, " BE USEFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

You guys are making me question the train table we bought for our 3 year old. Great to know it's a ticking time bomb of indifference.

I always found it weird that in some of the books they called sir tapomhat the fat conductor.  Train tables are great for starting a Lego City with the three year old.

[Alpinemaps]

Okay, let's chat away about our kids and their weird habits, things we can't control, toys they aren't into anymore, and other stuff related to them here.

[Huskers1236]

On 5/3/2017 at 11:01 AM, Alpinemaps said:

 

Hahaha! If that's the worst that you do, you'll be fine.

My 5 year old is still doing diapers at night (despite being potty trained at all other times, he's just a heavy sleeper). There were nights where I'd forget to put on a diaper and I'd wake up in the morning to having to change his whole bed.

 

 

On 5/3/2017 at 11:17 AM, oneknightr said:

My almost-5 year old is in the same boat. I keep hoping one night he'll magically wake up dry. The nighttime pull-up purchases are eating into my Lego funds! 

If you guys are having issues with the boys not getting up at night and getting super frustrated, try the alarm that hooks up to their diaper/undies/what have you.  It trains their brain to get up when they have that sensation.  It sucks all sort of suck to get up at night when you hear it but it worked for us in about 2 weeks.(I started sleeping through it about night 3, my wife was not amused)  Our son was older than yours and it was getting VERY frustrating because he was wanting to start doing sleepovers with friends and that wasn't happening.  He had been potty trained since 1.5/2 years old, so it was a pain that he wasn't waking up at night.  Anyway, it's a suggestion if other means aren't working for you.  We didn't go with a super fancy one, just has to have the sensor and the alarm. 

 

[exciter1]

I checked in on my kid the other day.

[Kenxxx]

Does anyone else save (or re-buy MISB) "milestone" Lego sets for their kids? Like, my son's first Lego - a gift from a friend... I think it was his 4th birthday - was a 4434 Dump Truck. That set sparked a new hobby for both of us.  It's still in his room somewhere... but likely missing some parts, so I bought a new one a couple years ago, and have it stored away.  Pro'ly got it from one of you guys... it wasn't cheap. Then his first big Xmas Lego was the 4204 City Mine... I couldn't believe we were spending $70 on a Lego set. We actually sold that one on eBay (proceeds went to him), but I had already stored away a fresh one from a TRU clearance.  Then of course there was 10188 Death Star for next Xmas (have one of those saved).  That's it for me.  I wonder when I'm ever going to give these to him?

[ISO8T0]

Interesting. I have absolutely NO idea what my boys first LEGO sets were. My soon to be 10 yr old might. His memory is uncanny.

 

 

[Alpinemaps]

Just now, pstebbing said:

Interesting. I have absolutely NO idea what my boys first LEGO sets were. My soon to be 10 yr old might. His memory is uncanny.

I remember my son's first sets.  He was a couple months shy of 3, and we had gotten him some Jake and the Neverland Duplo, and the first Batman Juniors set.

He was far more interested in the Juniors set than the Duplo set.  That thing has long since been added to the pile of parts, but that started him down the path.  He put together the Obi Wan buildable himself last night, and is working on the IAC (he's 5 now).

[ISO8T0]

Who else fails miserably at trying to get their kids to keep their LEGO organized. We have a few Stack-On bins that we sort smaller parts into and when I make time I'll sit down with my boys and have them help me "sort". Love it when it gets done, but no sooner does it get done then my boys start building from the sort bins only. They make some cool stuff mind you, but it defeats the purpose of sorting to find parts for sets.

 

[gregpj]

Who else fails miserably at trying to get their kids to keep their LEGO organized. We have a few Stack-On bins that we sort smaller parts into and when I make time I'll sit down with my boys and have them help me "sort". Love it when it gets done, but no sooner does it get done then my boys start building from the sort bins only. They make some cool stuff mind you, but it defeats the purpose of sorting to find parts for sets.

 

 

My kids have no ability to keep stuff sorted... so we sort some for them - they have a mixels bin, a bionicle bag, a Minecraft bag, some containers for their minifigures, and a couple buckets of sorted/unsorted parts.They can do whatever they want within a "theme" but they're not allowed to mix!

[Alpinemaps]

Ugh.  If I had been smart, I would have never bought any "outside bulk" LEGO and just kept a big bin to put our sets into.  Instead, I have a bin of parts from a yard sale sitting in the living room of miscellaneous things.  I have another bin upstairs in the boy's room, of parts from sets he had when he was little, and then most everything else is built and stored away right now.

I'm imaging myself in 20 years, sorts and putting together sets again from his childhood, so we can sell them down the line.

[fuzzy_bricks]

23 hours ago, Kenxxx said:

 I wonder when I'm ever going to give these to him?

Whenever I go into my storage area, I ask myself the same question "When am I going to give the kids all these sets."  I'll probably end up selling a bunch of them, I have way too many.  I have to be careful that a collector/hoarder mentality doesn't set in.

23 hours ago, pstebbing said:

Interesting. I have absolutely NO idea what my boys first LEGO sets were. My soon to be 10 yr old might. His memory is uncanny.

It was the original Cars sets for my oldest/first.  I will always have a soft spot for them, and I'm not allowed to sell them per the wife.

23 hours ago, pstebbing said:

Who else fails miserably at trying to get their kids to keep their LEGO organized. We have a few Stack-On bins that we sort smaller parts into and when I make time I'll sit down with my boys and have them help me "sort".

We do pretty good.  We use these Sterilite tubs in various sizes from Walmart, each set gets their own.  Some sets get combined (Minecraft and Nexo), but for the most part they stay separated

Most of the extra pieces and bulk leftover are in Akro Mills drawer units with the labels from The Brick Architect.  I do have to tear down some of their creations from time to time and resort, but the labels make it pretty painless.

[BrickLegacy]

My snow speeder arrived today. Corner was slightly crushed but r2 was in there so I'm happy.

Bought a few things at TRU to celebrate their arrival.

Oh crap, wrong thread.

[gregpj]

2 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

It's good for my son, too, since he's just started ice hockey and having a single minded focus along with some precision work I think will help his game.

As a hockey player, I'd have to say that I don't think this will help him at all. Get a net, ball and street hockey stick and get that boy playing outside shooting the ball into the net!
In all seriousness, I'm not sure if it's possible where you are, but skating 12 months of the year is key and ball hockey really does teach kids good stick handling skills and eye-stick coordination at this age because the balls don't behave as well as the puck. When they get older, ball hockey will simply be more for fun. The best hockey player in my age group <by quite a bit also due to his size> growing up used to shoot hundreds of pucks a day in his back yard from a sheet of plywood into a hockey net. 

 

Every kid is different and I'm not judging any parents who choose to let their kids have them. I am judging parents who let them bring these kinds of gadgets to school though... for goodness sakes, we should know better.

I just don't think it would be good for my kids and their personal behavior. Besides, many of us could stand to put our phones down for large chunks of the day!

[Alpinemaps]

As a hockey player, I'd have to say that I don't think this will help him at all. Get a net, ball and street hockey stick and get that boy playing outside shooting the ball into the net!

In all seriousness, I'm not sure if it's possible where you are, but skating 12 months of the year is key and ball hockey really does teach kids good stick handling skills and eye-stick coordination at this age because the balls don't behave as well as the puck. When they get older, ball hockey will simply be more for fun. The best hockey player in my age group growing up used to shoot hundreds of pucks a day in his back yard from a sheet of plywood into a hockey net. 

 

Every kid is different and I'm not judging any parents who choose to let their kids have them. I am judging parents who let them bring these kinds of gadgets to school though... for goodness sakes, we should know better.

I just don't think it would be good for my kids and their personal behavior. Besides, many of us could stand to put our phones down for large chunks of the day!

 

My wife has finally given up the fight of preventing rollerblades and street hockey sticks in the house.

 

I've got him set up in a hallway to practice taking shots. Half the time he wants us throwing an all at him so he can goaltend.

 

I bought a net, but it's a pain in the ass to set up. I'm gonna have to get a different net. Other parents have warned me that next level up, he'll have homework of taking 3000 shots a month.

[gregpj]

9 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

 

My wife has finally given up the fight of preventing rollerblades and street hockey sticks in the house.

 

I've got him set up in a hallway to practice taking shots. Half the time he wants us throwing an all at him so he can goaltend.

 

I bought a net, but it's a pain in the ass to set up. I'm gonna have to get a different net. Other parents have warned me that next level up, he'll have homework of taking 3000 shots a month.

<one more off topic post after this one :)>

We have a couple of these for the backyard: https://www.amazon.com/Winnwell-Net-Quicknet-Mesh-Hockey/dp/B0092LZUJ4 They are pretty easy to unfold and setup but we only put them away in the winter because the kids play where I park my car! Do all you can to prevent him from being a goalie.... not only is the equipment 3x as much money, it's a really demanding position and super hard on the knees!

3000 shots a month? Sounds good!

[Alpinemaps]

1 hour ago, gregpj said:

<one more off topic post after this one :)>

We have a couple of these for the backyard: https://www.amazon.com/Winnwell-Net-Quicknet-Mesh-Hockey/dp/B0092LZUJ4 They are pretty easy to unfold and setup but we only put them away in the winter because the kids play where I park my car! Do all you can to prevent him from being a goalie.... not only is the equipment 3x as much money, it's a really demanding position and super hard on the knees!

3000 shots a month? Sounds good!

If I could figure out a way to prevent him being a goalie, I would.  I've had almost every hockey parent tell me the same thing.  The only ones telling me different are the other goalie parents.  They encourage it.  We have a severe lack of goalies in SoCal, so they're recruited hard for tournaments and travel teams, and usually have to pay little to no costs.

(And I'm moving this off topic stuff to the parenting thread)

[gregpj]

If I could figure out a way to prevent him being a goalie, I would.  I've had almost every hockey parent tell me the same thing.  The only ones telling me different are the other goalie parents.  They encourage it.  We have a severe lack of goalies in SoCal, so they're recruited hard for tournaments and travel teams, and usually have to pay little to no costs.
(And I'm moving this off topic stuff to the parenting thread)

That's great that there "seem" to be little cost but if they're any good, imagine how much of your time will be spent taking them to games.

My kids are in activities anywhere from 5-7 days a week year round and I have no regrets... but the times are on a schedule so we can plan accordingly. Imagine what it'll be like .. tournaments mean you're at the rink pretty much the entire weekend. Games are already all over the place... now add in one or two "sub" games some weeks (guess when they want subs... holidays).

Just saying it's not really free...

However, some kids also grow out of this phase once they get hit hard with a puck.