When you have more fun building your child's new Lego set than they do... - by scumble
scumble on 19/5/2012 at 19:40
Seb's grandparents bought one of the large lego star wars sets he requested for his birthday, and it is a bit out of his age range for building it, so I ended up putting it together mostly.
(
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72776465@N03/7228621208/)
Inline Image:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7231/7228621208_f39bacc8a5_z.jpgI tend to think most of the fun is in the building, and it is probably a bit silly to get this sort of thing for younger kids. At the same time it occurred to me that other Dads deliberately go for this kind of thing as an excuse to play with some toys, as they know the kids will need "help". I felt myself getting pulled into this feeling as I progressed, and as more of my effort had gone into it, I ended up getting a little attached to the end result. I suppose the nostalgia of building with lego came into it as well.
Although I have a soft spot for lego, I'm not that keen on grandparents "spoiling" children, because it may contribute to the idea that accumulating stuff is what life is all about. The more stuff they have the less they value it. I remember the days when they could have just as much fun with empty plastic bottles. I must have another go at restraining the excess...
demagogue on 19/5/2012 at 19:46
I know this phenomenon with my nephew. He's happy if he has the illusion of "participating", where I show the picture and he'll point to the piece or if he can't find it I'll just pick it up for him, then I'll show him where it goes, give it to him, then he'll put it somewhere in the neighborhood of where it's supposed to go if he can find it, or I'll just direct his hand to it if he can't, and he'll drop it around there. Then I end up putting the piece in anyway. After a few of those his patience will wear and I'll get the next 4 or 5 steps I can do on my own before he insists on "participating" again. Haha, all sort of a charade; he won't be happy unless he's doing it too, but the threshold for that is so low it's easy to just let him hold the pieces a little and feel happy, but I'm the one probably having more fun actually making the thing.
nickie on 19/5/2012 at 20:02
My grandchildren have no chance of being spoilt by me and
will learn to like empty plastic bottles when they're a bit older. But the older one has lots of really nice toys given by other people which I have fun with. The younger one is only a month old so only teddy bears and mobiles at the moment.
I saw (
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17690875) this a little while ago and thought it a little sad but then parents get bombarded left, right and centre on how they're supposed to do things all the time so I don't find it surprising if they have little confidence in themselves. My grandchildren will get this
Quote:
. . . play tips include making musical instruments from tin cans, going on a nature trail in the local park and building a dressing-up wardrobe from old boxes and pillow cases.
But then I might win the lottery . . .
scumble on 20/5/2012 at 08:12
My grandmother seems to have limitless patience with children, but she was a teacher for more than 40 years. She is someone who knows how to play with children - she'll even pretend to be a Jedi with the boys and wield a toy lightsaber.
I don't know if there's anything different about modern parents and their ability to play with their kids - people just have different temperaments.
Dia on 20/5/2012 at 11:32
I was about to attempt to 'help' assemble a Lego Ninjago vehicle for a 5 yr. old relative, but had to go to the bathroom first (knowing this was going to take awhile). I'd already placed the two instruction booklets on the table (yes; there were TWO!) before I got up and was a little apprehensive at how much more complicated the assembly looked like it was going to be than I thought, even though the pieces were separated into bags marked 1, 2, & 3 for the different stages of assembly. When I went back to the kitchen table, the 5 yr. old (to my dismay) had opened all three large bags and had mixed the contents all over the table.
His father ended up assembling it the next day.
I guess I just don't have enough testosterone for some things anymore.
Tocky on 20/5/2012 at 16:24
Quote Posted by scumble
My grandmother seems to have limitless patience with children, but she was a teacher for more than 40 years. She is someone who knows how to play with children - she'll even pretend to be a Jedi with the boys and wield a toy lightsaber.
This. You have to have fun. You can't be too grown up. You have to be just grown up enough to put things together or protect from danger but not so much you can't be a pirate or presenter of dubious jewels to the queen at court. That is what gets smiling jumping on the porch clapping squeeling "papaws here!".
And bah the plastic bottles. Sometimes they do get plastic fantastic. Just not so often.
Well okay, maybe a bit too often.
scumble on 20/5/2012 at 19:08
Is this an innovative mail order business I haven't heard about yet? Do they charge extra for the ankle tattoo?
BrokenArts on 20/5/2012 at 19:14
The package is broken, send it back, fantasy ruined. Tainted.
Trance on 20/5/2012 at 22:01
I see a Peta logo there. Is it supposed to be a human being lying on the sort of styrofoam shrink-wrapped packages that meat comes in at grocery stores?
