I was watching television when I saw a commercial for Crayola Color Wonder, a product which uses inks which only show up on special paper. This way, the kids can write all over your house and there will be no "mess." The commercial shows kids bragging how they used finger paint on the rug, colored on the couch in the living room, spread glitter on their "mom's" bed, and painted their shirt.
This product is wrong in so many ways. How about telling the kids not to write on the damn couch, or better yet, supervise them yourself.
Have we sunk so far as a society that we create toys which encourage kids to engage in bad behavior because we are too lazy to teach them good behavior? (I know the answer, but had to ask anyway.)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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I don't know if you have any kids but telling them "not to write on furniture" is like telling the government to curb spending. Even if they listen "ooopsies" happen.
ReplyDeleteYes, three grown. And ooopsies happen, but that's not the same as encouraging the kids to write anywhere. How about making sure they paint at a table, not on the couch; or would that be too repressive? And how about teaching them that there are consequences for ooopsie? Or is that too "yesterday"? And, I like the term "ooopsie." Is it ok if I use it in posts?
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am not a fan of this product, I have never purchased it on the basis of cost/benefit ratio.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is 4 and now "gets it" that it's not OK to write on walls, my youngests are 2 and as their lawyer (mommy dearest) argues, they are not writing on the walls, they are re-decorating. If I took the re-decorative effects from paint what would the poor kids do ?
Second you need the special paper, need the special paint to work which cost about 3X the regular paper (WOW this started to sound like the "cap and trade", maybe I should start using it and see if it thrives my family budget).
Third, my kids always paint/color at a table but their attention span is pretty much as good as the current POTUS's (I think I just insulted my kids, we will need to hold a family meeting tonight to discuss the issue), it's common to find a paint brush on the couch, between the sheets... as a present, in my coat pocket. Can you think of reprimanding your kids when they wanted to give you a present ?
In our house "ooopsie" is pretty much the equivalent of an accident, it's not pre-mediated. There are consequences for an ooopsie, maybe loose of privileges for a while / having to pick up / having to clean the mess, but never as severe as when one bites/hits the other to grab their toy.
You may use the term "ooopsie" and anything else you like in my posts. Just try to keep them in context, like pre-mediated murder is not an "ooopsie"