My son want a PS3 for Christmas and I think they are too expensive. He has a PS2. I know that buying the system is just the start, the new games are expensive. How do I tell him that it is unrealistic to ask for something so expensive. Plus I have concerns about the amount of time playing, grades, and studying, and just spending family time together.
Thanks Betsy, I was thinking that they took away the backwards compatibility, which I don't think they should have. Great answers and lots to think about. You know, I have a great kid, he follows the rules, he actually has been cutting grass during the summer for the last 3 years. He does have issues with grades but he wants to improve them, it isn't that he doesn't do homework. He does need to learn how to study for tests better, and though he has always be incredibly concerned about getting homework done, sometimes it isn't quality work. I think time limits are the answer. Affording it is another issue. We can if we choose and that is hard for the kids to understand. Of course on the flip side, if chose to spend any old time then the first sentence wouldn't be true. I really hate spending money and we *never* go to the mall. He had a gift certificate for PacSun from last Christmas that we just spent because I just don't go there. Thanks again for all the wonderful answers and discussion.
** I should also say he got the PS2 when they first came out. I don't remember how long ago but maybe 5 or 6 years ago?
** I am thinking of going with it, however, that will be ALL he gets. It was his specific request that that is all he would want.
I think just like you told us....tell him he is fortunate to have a system and that having another is " unrealistic to ask for something so expensive. Plus I have concerns about the amount of time playing, grades, and studying, and just spending family time together"
Tell him to get a side job in the summer and earn money to buy his own!
The more kids go w/o, the more they appreciate WHEN they do get something. Our job as parents,is to teach our kids about life and the value of what we have. Just be tough and tellhim no. I heard no all the time when I was a kid when my friends were getting what I wanted. Yeah, I was mad at the time but I understand my parents now, because I know the value of a dollar now, thanks to my parents being tough. I personally think he should be happy w/ what he has, a ps2 is just as nice!
tell everyone he wants money for christmas, and get him to save up his money to buy his own - he is old enough to do jobs for people, and he can save up for his games too. if he wants one bad enough he will save up.
when i was 14 i wanted a horse, my dad made me save up and do jobs around the house and for people locally.
as for spending time together you can get games like singstar and rock band the whole family can play and have fun together - and set limitations on how much time he can use it - at his age he could probably get away with 1 hour in the week and more on the weekend
At the end of this summer my 13 year old bought himself a xbox 360. All the previous year he saved every penny and mowed several yards every week without complaint. My statement to him was that there was not a good enough reason for me to spend $ on a diff game system (we had a wii already). He has very specific times of day that he is allowed to play. Outside of that he gets to play when I or other kids want to play. It has become as much of a family thing as the wii. When he gets out of line or oversteps his bounds, the controllers go to work with me. It is definitely not a christmas gift unless it is not intended to be just for him, but a family or house gift. Just say no, then help him set a plan to save his christmas and b-day $, allowence and special jobs that could earn him enough to buy it himself. He will take better care of it also.
Good luck, and Merry Christmas,
R.
What you wrote sounds great. Just tell him that.
We went through the exact same thing with our teenager when he was 14! We explained to him that as long as he had a gaming system that worked, we didn't see the need to buy him a new one. His birthday is on Christmas, so that year he asked for money/gift cards towards the PS3...he still didn't have enough. So he kept working throughout the spring/summer doing things for us around the house (including keeping his grades up) & he still only had enough for 1/2! So we told him that if he would donate his old one to a charity that would get good use out of it and continue to work it off with us, we would cover extra cost. It worked out great for us...our rule was simply that he could not play it until he was done with all of his homework, etc. It never posed a problem for us. The nice thing is that the PS2 games still work on the PS3!! So we agreed to buy him 1 game when we got the unit, he could still play his old games & as time has gone on he has earned more money & received more games as gifts. Good luck!! I remember hating the idea of getting rid of a perfectly good unit...just for some more "cool" graphics!
I think it is a personal decision best based on whether you can honestly afford it or not and also considering what kind of standard it is setting...Also not ALL PS3 are backwards compatible with PS2 games or controllers so please if you are going to make a major purchase do your research, here is a link that can help.
Christmas is a season many of us have lost sight of the true meaning, please make sure you are instilling the true meaning of Christmas to your children.
Merry Christmas
B.
(link) http://videogames.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Does_PS3_Play_PS2_G...
I would tell him your concerns and tell him that the PS3 is flat out too expensive for you to buy for him. If he wants one that desperately you can tell him you'll give him money for X-mas and ask everyone else to do so as well. Suggest that he sell his PS2 on ebay and that will also help earn the money to the new one.
Frankly, I agree with the other posters that there is a time when you have to say enough is enough. We've all gotten in the habit of wanting the best for our kids but the fact is we can't keep up with the technology, it just changes too fast. You have to choose whether you will put your foot down and just adamently say NO or if you will allow him to get it but work for it the hard way like the rest of us. Good luck.
Good Morning Lynn, Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now it's run down to Christmas and New Years. Wow this year went fast. I have never had a PS anything. When our boys were young we had a Atari (dark ages right?) lol
They never had name brand shoes or cloths either! When they asked for those things, I told them when they could afford 80$$ shoes they could have them. Until then they got
(another dark ages thing) TG&Y shoes or wal-mart, that's what we could afford. Both married with kids of their own they really do understand more. Youngest has 3 kids and they have a PS2 and a Wii. Eldest has Vtech games for his boys. Guess what? They still shop at Wal-Mart for their Shoes & cloths....lol Eldest is a Election and he will buy heavy duty work shoes once a year as will our youngest who is a carpenter. Other then that Wally World for everyone.
Until your son can afford the more OUT there things, don't give in. I think it makes them appreciate what they have more when they are able to buy it themselves, they seem to take better care of it also. They don't have the attitude Oh Well it's broke, Mom & Dad will get me another one. NOT!!
We do the same with our Grandchildren! Mom and dad can (if they want) get them the big things, Nana and Papa won't!
Yes we can afford the bigger things now, but refuse to be pulled into some things, just because they are Hot stuff.
Our Grand daughter Tia 10,told us yesterday she wanted some type of hand held electronic game thing, cost $100.00, I told her good luck with that! Nana had bought her a kids computer that did alot of things two years ago and she didn't take care of it, doesn't even know where all the parts are now.
Right now she is saving up her money to take her mom, dad, 2 brothers and her self to Ryan's Steak House buffet on kids night. Good Job Tia my Angel.
God Bless you Lynn, If ya can't afford it, Oh Well earn it son.
K. Nana of 5
They do seem expensive, but remember you can always rent games to try before you buy to make sure he really likes a game. Buy used ones also. You can also play blue-ray movies on them so the whole family can enjoy also.
Of course, Christmas is about CHRIST. That said, whether it is Christmas, birthday, or whatever, he needs to know the value of the item for which what he is asking! I think 14 is a great age to start EARNING the money for the expensive things you want so you learn the value of money. By allowing him to get a job (newspaper route?) or ask for money instead of things to unwrap for Christmas (or birthday, graduation, etc.), he can see just how much it takes! Seeing a price tag is nothing like the impact of earning the money to pay for what you really want. Who knows, by the time he has enough to buy it, he may find that the PS2 is good enough and want something else! (Maybe even use it to start saving for his first car? YIKES!) Who cares about the Jonses, right!?
Tell your son you would like to see him get gifts he likes but that Christmas is a time of giving and showing love because of God sending his son as a gift to us. It's not a time of going in debt and that you need to teach him many things as a parent and one of those things is the value of money and that things are not the most important part of life. Tell him if he would like this item, I don't know what it is myself but then I know it is expensive and he had an older one, he can work and save to buy one. It's so sad to see kids get toys and gifts and play with them for one day and then they are broken, pieces lost, and not one bit of thanks for them because they got so many things or will get it 'replaced' by a better one. It's not mean to say no but teaches value and that's missing with today's kids. Some get things they need, like clothes and complain and it's never enough these days. Set a price limit on what you spend for Christmas and stick to it and kids will learn to appreciate the small things even. Or work for it themselves if they don't learn to appreciate and they will learn the value then.
At age 14 he should understand by now that Santa doesn't
fullfill your wishes. I went through the same, kept the PS2 and bought my son a new game. When he turned 16, he got a part time job and bought himself an xbox 360. He now realizes the stretching of a dollar and the difference between needs and wants. Good Luck!
If you buy that for him, then they will come out with a newer better model and he will want it.
Tell him if you bought that for him then no one else in the family would have Christmas, only him. Hopefully he will quit asking.
My all time favorite that always worked was "We can't afford it". Never failed.
I certainly understand where you are coming from because the PS3 is expensive. However, if you are ok with the idea but are just concerned about the cost. You can actually trade in the PS2 system at Gamestop. They buy used gaming items, systems, controllers, games etc. The trade could help offset the price of the PS3 system. You might also check to see if there are any used PS3 systems available there. I went there just the other day and there were several used PS2 systems available (which means folks have been trading them in) and I also saw some used Wii systems, although it wasn't much cheaper than a new one. I don't remember if they had any used PS3 systems but you could always check. Have a wonderful Christmas!
