Disposable generation

__H__ yeah im part of this generation too! im 22 next month () and ive been thinking about this the last couple of months.

basically my plan of attack is I want to have a family night minimum of once a week (when R gets a bit older) where we do something together tv/computer/technology free. maybe a board game or I would love to set up a scavenger hunt in the backyard in spring/summer for DP and DS to do together . go for a walk after dinner, do some family baking, play dress ups etc. basically anything that is technology free.

also as soon as we finish painting the house, one of the rooms is going to be my computer/work/sewing/craft room so I can shut the computer away.

I would like to say the TV wont be on if its sunny outside... but I can guarentee that there will be days when it will be lol. But most days I will be playing with DS... the stuff i used to do as a kid... dress ups, playing in the backyard, playdough, colouring in, board games etc. (and im glad Im handy at sewing coz i want to make dress ups for both of us lol. eg fairy and wizard, king and queen etc)


working on buying some more cloth nappies and want to make a point of recycling old clothing (using it to make new clothing... op shop it and buy 2nd hand or make it myself.) also join a toy library.

I also make alot of DS's toys


we are going to paint half of one of his walls in his room with blackboard paint so he can draw on that aswell and entertain himself without fancy toys.

I cant remember the last time I bought anything new (apart from clothes for the kids and the odd clothing item for me) Most of the bigger items have all been 2nd hand via TM, opshops, friends etc. I dont really bother with upgrading until its beyond fixing I even wore my fave jeans til the split went right around to where fixing it was impossible! I spent a lot of time at my grandmothers while growing up, and I've always been part of a low-middle income family, so never got anything brand new as it came out, and I guess I learnt to look for what I needed as cheap as possible...

I like the technology free days idea - we will definitely be doing those.

What age are kids getting cellphones these days?

A simple question I ask myself before I purchase:

Is this a want or a need?

It usually helps me decided whether to buy it or not. It's amazing how much I don't end up buying. I still buy "want" stuff sometimes but not as often.

Disco:)

monkey33 wrote: What age are kids getting cellphones these days?

We have had long talks about this as DS1 really wants one as some of his friends have them. I don't want him to have one as there is no need for it & think he is too young.

DH said yes to it & then when we were talking about it he came up with ph bullying so changed his mind.

We agreed on when he is 11 at intermediate school. They have to hand in their phones to the office & get them after school. I will have DS2& 3 to pick up from primary school so I could text him if running late etc & DH said he will ring him....we however will be checking his ph & limiting the amount he has to use on it...but this is over a yr away.

My 11yo sister doesn't have a phone, and I don't think she's been asking for one (Mum and Dad would let her if she did, I imagine, but she'd have to pay for it herself which would probably put her off). But then again, my 15yo brother doesn't have one either, and that must be unusual these days (I have no idea why he doesn't, must just not see the need or something). My next sister up (now 16) has had one since she was abbout 12, I think.

My daughter got hers at 12 and there were only 4 other kids in her class who didn't have one. I was class mum and asked at the end of year party. Two of those 4 were getting them that summer in time for middle school. (We were in the states) So we caved at 12. At her 13th birthday of the 6 kids that came 3 had iphones. I asked them as that was her next plan was to get an iphone. I said once I get an iphone then she can have it once I am done with it lol. Still haven't got one. So she is out of luck.

We pay for her phone. She doesn't get an allowance so we put $12 on for unlimited texting each month. I really should start an allowance for her so she can learn to manage money.

It is the best discipline tool. She has lost it for a month for taking too long in the shower and rarking up her brothers and sisters when I specifically asked for help that night.

We have had a little text bullying but we got it stopped with the principal pretty fast. It was a one off and more of a case of a boy thinking he was being grown up by using inappropriate words. Calling her swear words. He was called in to a meeting with the principal and the school police officer and it was squashed straight away.

I got DD a ipod for her 11th birthday and everyone who didn't know what to get her bought i tunes gift cards. Great for that age as they are too big for dolls etc but not old enough for grown up stuff so everyone breathed a sigh of relief when I said to buy the gift cards.

Wow, iPhones and laptops for kids? I would love an iPhone myself, LOL.

We hand things down all the time, and get things passed on to us. We barely buy any clothes for the kids, because we get given them, then we pass them on when we are done with them as well. Same with kids shoes.

We can't really afford to replace stuff all the time, so we have to look after it or go without.

We just got a dog and we were given a crate for her, and a kennel but someone else, and some dog toys. The kennel was solid but not best condition so I borrowed some filler and leftover paint and boards and stuff from my sister and have patched it up.

Wish there were better recycling options in Dunedin though. Our recycle bins are pretty limiting.

I dunno if I'm part of the Disposable Generation, being a child of the '70's (1970's not 1870's lol)..  

But it does give me the sh*ts well and truely to see how kids are being brought up these days and I want no part of it.  No doubt my comments below will raise some ire but I'm not saying it to annoy, it's actually how I feel! Maybe idealistic but still....

I understand there is a (debatable) need for technology but that doesn't mean we NEED to buy a Wii or MySky or give our children cellphones IMO. We can't afford it anyway, unless the retailers take Monopoly money

I'm hoping- and trying- to start early by already asking family & friends not to buy as cheap sweatshop crap for gifts (I didn't word it like that tho lol), I would rather the kids had books or $$ toward savings or swimming lessons or a trip out to a park or good quality preloved toys or clothes... or nothing is also absolutely fine.  

I won't be buying the kids gifts except at Xmas and birthdays. I will not be having birthday parties with goody bags....I think that sort of thing encourages children to think it's their special day when it's not iykwim?  

In my ideal world, we wouldn't have a tv at all but we do and that's unlikely to change unfortunately so I will have to go with monitoring closely what I allow the kids to watch. At age appropriate levels we'll talk about ads & what they actually are trying to do to viewers vs what the companies want them to think...  

Also at an age appropriate level there'll most definately be talks bout WHY some things are so cheap, and how perhaps it came to be like that...and who benefits from throwaway 'stuff'- the consumer or the people who make it...or noone?

I'll teach respect for people, animals, and the earth and try as much as possible to give my kids 'heuristic play' ...which I always thought was playing outside with what's outside and learning to entertain themselves, not BE entertained. It's just a fancy-shmancy name for what we did as kids lol

Hmmm, what else....household help toward chores will be expected, not paid for. Haven't decided about pocket money yet! I'll be encouraging my children to save and pay for what they want when they have enough money from part time work (obviously that's some time away!).

I'll encourage my whole family to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible.

There's heaps of other practical things I can think of but don't want it to sound like I'm getting on my preloved hobby horse hehe . Probably the best thing I can do is lead by example and walk the talk (which I do).