"MOOOMM!! I want that! Come quick!"

[chaoticzenmom]

Now my 3yo is doing it. UGH. I think we should turn off the t.v. through Christmas. These advertisements drive me crazy! It's alway, ALWAYS junk.

Anyone else? What are you doing about it? I'm going to brainstorm with my husband tonight about this because I will not be bombarded by it for the next 3 months!!!

[littleaugustbaby]

That drives me crazy too! Do you have a DVR? Can you record programs and forward through the commercials? I'd do that, or stick to videos for right now.

My DD also does this every. time. we go to the store. It does not matter what store we go to, we always find something that she has to have. A friend of mine has a rule with her kids. If they go into a store, and they see something that they want, they can come home and write it down on their Christmas/birthday list. If they start whining in the store about how they want it, then they won't get it at all, but if it's on their list, then they might get it at Christmas/their birthday. I haven't tried it yet, but she says that it's saved her a lot of headaches at the store. With a 3 year old, since he probably can't write, maybe after you get home, you can sit down with him and help him write a list or draw pictures of the things that he saw that he wanted.

[Mindful Mom]

HEY!!

Do you live in my house?????

[amj'smommy]

yeah... I love the over commercialization of Christmas.... and I don't even have a problem with TV but they WAAYYYY overdue it at Christmas time... and it isn't even Christmas time yet!!! We've been watching alot more PBS lately

[Breeder]

Turning off the tv totally works.

I can't tell you the difference, it's like night and day. I haven't heard any gimmee's since I turned it off for DS (me and DH are still addicts but that's for after bedtime). My problem is I have a hard time finding what he really wants for xmas since he doesn't have commercials to constantly remind him.

[ledzepplon]

Tivo! Or KPBS! Or videos! Or, like the pp said, no TV! We avoid commercials like the plague.

[Shonahsmom]

We are a PBS only household. My daughter is 8 (almost 9) and I have never once been asked for something she saw on a commercial.

[kayleesmom]

omg my 4 yr old is doing same thing over all these toy advertisements on tv. it is going to be a long 2-3 months here

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by chaoticzenmom

What are you doing about it?

This is bad but when we moved to our new house (July 2007) we told ds (then 3 1/2) that this tv doesn't get his shows Total lie, as we get all the "cool" cartoons, he just hasn't figured that out yet. But I did NOT want him watching tv. Plain and simple. He has tons of movies he can watch most anytime he wants it (very few restrictions). These are movies I have approved (Thomas, Bob the Builder, Elmo, VeggiTales). I think my son is one of the only 5 year olds who have no clue who Spiderman, Batman, etc are. He got Spiderman pj's for his birthday today from someone who had only met him a few times. I think they were disappointed when he wasn't thrilled.... but he has no idea who Spiderman is! He would have loved some dinosaur pj's or whatever. But spiderman? Nope. DS never asks for something he sees on tv.... because he doesn't get to watch tv (except the Food Network sometimes, which he loves).

[mommy68]

It's started here too. MY older ones, no problem. It's my 6 yr old. There are a couple of things I know she really wants and she will get those things but some of it I just say oh yeah, uh-huh and let her go on and on about them until she forgets them.

[nannymom]

We have "Run Mommy You have to see this" and I come running and it's a comemrcial for some thing ridiculuous like a robot dianasour or jewlrey you color yourself. I am sure there is a direct correlaton between the amount of spongebob watched and the fact that this year my daughter is making a christmas list in October

[mistymama]

We are not a tv-free household and have no plans to be. But we talk often about thinking for yourself and not believing everything a commerical says. We talk about what really comes with the toy and what it really does and how they've made it look cooler on purpose so you'll want to buy it. I've even shown him the same toy in stores so he can see for himself.

I don't want him to be totally sheltered from this stuff, he goes to public school and sees it anyway. I want him to be able to filter what he sees and make up his own mind on if he wants it or not!

It's pretty funny now .. the other day he yelled, "Mooooommm, is that a cheap piece of crap?" :

[daytripper75]

At our house it is PBS or CBC for tv or nothing. Commercials are rotten!

[chaoticzenmom]

Glad to know I'm not the only one. I do talk to the kids about commercials and how these things look cool, but really just go into the garbage once we get them home and realize how lame they are.

I talked with my husband about getting rid of cable last night. He's totally against it. I guess I could unhook the dish during the day when we're home. We homeschool, so we're here 3 out of the 5 weekdays. Maybe I should just figure out how to become more "outdoorsy" I live in the Seattle area and I don't like to go out in the rain....not a good mix because it means that I hide out in the house all fall/winter and spring.

When we first moved back to the U.S., we didn't have a t.v. for a few months. It was bliss. Now, we're up to our eyeballs in technology.

My daughter has expressed an interest in a set of bongos. I know she didn't see those on T.V.

[chaoticzenmom]

Originally Posted by mistymama

It's pretty funny now .. the other day he yelled, "Mooooommm, is that a cheap piece of crap?" :

That's priceless.

[philomom]

Tivo, Tivo, Tivo


Don't let your kid's childhood be about you being the "bad" guy for not buying them all this crap.

[fek&fuzz]

We had a house rule: "We don't buy anything that is advertised on television." It just seemed like a fact of life. Cabbage Patch Kids that all my friends had? "We don't buy anything advertised on tv." I don't remember ever having fits about it, or yelling for something (although I'm sure I did.) My mom made us a lot of stuff, and we had a uncle that gave my brothers cool toys for christmas, and we could buy stuff with out own money, but my parents wouldn't buy it if it was advertised on tv.

Maybe just institute that rule in your house.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

My son isn't old enough to really get commercialism yet, but this thread makes me so glad we are a tv free house. I definitely do not plan on getting one any time soon, and I really think it is going to make holidays much more bearable in our household as he gets older. Although he will probably think Mommy is a weirdo for not having a tv.

[chaoticzenmom]

Ok, we've negotiated and have come up with a compromise. There is a switch that my husband bought that switches the t.v. from one cable to another cable. During the week, we're going to switch it to the "over the air" cable and on the weekends, we may switch it back to cable. We mostly have cable so that my husband can watch soccer. Let's hope that this gives us some peace until after christmas.

[Maggie05]

We watch very little tv. Maybe an hour or two per week. All I have to say is TIVO: greatest thing EVER invented. EVER.