The Parenting Thread

[Janitor]

So I'm going to be a dad...and it's a boy! Due date is July 29 (so more than likely I'll be missing my first TFCon since 2008...boo! Peter freakin' Cullen, man!!).

Anyways, I always knew this day would come and have many burning questions for my follow parents/TF collectors, but the one that's always had me conflicted:

Do you let your kids play with your toys?


Sounds dumb, doesn't it? Ask any regular person and "Kids + Toys = Why-is-this-even-a-debate?!". Yet here we are, on a forum with (mostly) grown adults discussing toys, in a day and age where the line between "kids' playthings" versus "collector's items" gets increasingly blurred. Now, there are the obvious limitations and boundaries. Nobody wants infants/young toddlers messing with small easy-to-swallow parts. But there will be a day where my child will be old enough to ask me "Can I play with that?" and my stomach will churn at the thought of something getting broken or lost (hard to track down G1s/G1 parts spring to mind).

I'm probably being completly petty, but I just want to know if anyone else had the same thoughts going into parenthood, and how you eventually handled it.

*Figured I'd create a thread for general discussions regarding Parenting + TFs so others may ask/answer as well. Other questions that I wouldn't mind answered:
-at what age did you let your kids start watching G1? I myself would've been around 5 years old (and my younger brother 3) during the original run in the 80's, hope that's still ok. [also, the right age for Beast Wars, Animated, TF: Prime, etc?]
-thoughts on Rescue Bots (both toon and toys)?

Thanks in advance!

[jjwankenobi]

Originally Posted by Janitor

Do you let your kids play with your toys?

- TF-wise? Only select ones.

I have 2 boys (8 and 2), 1 girl (5). My oldest and youngest love G1 Optimus and Ultra Magnus which are essentially bricks and indestructible (Optimus is a 25th Anniversary reissue, Magnus is vintage). Take away the missiles, guns, Roller's gas dispenser and hose and they're happy). My daughter loves Starscream (minus the launchers, missiles and easy to lose rear stabilizers). They don't get to touch any of the Autobot cars. Blaster is OK, whereas Soundwave's tape door is too fragile for the little ones. Tapes are ok minus the weapon attachments. Megatron and Shockwave are off limits.

They even get free reign of my STAR WARS POTF2 figures (minus the weapons) but vintage '77 to '85 toys are off limits.

As a "privelage" I let my oldest tinker with some my Masterpieces under my supervision. We both stay up an hour past bedtime on Friday nights and 'play'. He loves the Datsuns but seems to appreciate the notion that he gets something the little ones don't based on his age which is important to establish.

But truthfully they are more happy with foam blocks, making forts out of the cushions from our couch, and riding on me like a Bantha .

Originally Posted by Janitor

-at what age did you let your kids start watching G1? I myself would've been around 5 years old (and my younger brother 3) during the original run in the 80's, hope that's still ok. [also, the right age for Beast Wars, Animated, TF: Prime, etc?]

Seasons 1 and 2 are pretty tame so my kids saw most of them beginning at age 3, but they really don't pay attention until age 5. "Fire In The Mountain" and Fire In The Sky" are among their favorites. My oldest loves it when they travel back to Cybertron. My daughter loves anything with the Dinobots and Starscream. Season 3 and beyond are completely lost on them.

TFTM '86 is hardcore so I waited until my oldest was 6 which subsequently coincided with my wife's grandfather's passing so Optimus provided a framework for explaining death and the circle of life. The 2 younger ones are not allowed to see TFTM '86, but I play the soundtrack often resulting in my 2 year old learning the word stupid (from "Dare To Be Stupid") which he proceeded to blurt out for a whole month at random.

My wife says that was a Parenting Fail.

Their love for G1 makes TFA seem wrong to my kids so ironically I have to watch TFA without them. They also hate TF: Prime.

Originally Posted by Janitor

-thoughts on Rescue Bots (both toon and toys)?

My 2 and 5 year old like Rescue Bots but are indifferent to the toys. Again, I think that's because they're allowed to play with some of my G1.

Hope that helps, papa! Congrats in advance!

[elburrito]

Congrats! I think that you will find that your TF collection will all but disappear from your mind in the first 6 months or so.

My advice is to get the little guy his own transformers toys and keep yours well out of reach. There are a lot of cool lines geared for kids.

[MULTIPLEX]

First of all. Congrats! I also missed TFcon last year because of jr. being born How dare he

To answer your question. Yes, my kids can play with my toys. But I didn't start letting my daughter start messing with my toys until the age of 4. Three was a bit young due to swallowing hazard, weapons and accessories.

I started with LEGO to teach her patience and how to follow step by step instructions. She really liked it. TFs were a natural progression due to the step by step component. But I introduced them later because of the delicate parts. I beleive she was 6 when I started accumulating my G1s again. She had full use of them. At that age, they understand more how to be careful. But this is a girl. Boys may be more into rough play and pew pew.

I tried to to get my daughter into the other lines but they were way too complicated and frustrating for her. G1 is perfect for kids. Plus she was watching all the G1 episodes with me at the time so she recognized the characters. The cheesy humor in the G1 cartoon and movie is what sold her.

As far as when to start watching G1 episodes, ASAP. Even infants can recognize sound and music. Get them used to it and let the brain washing begin young

[jjwankenobi]

Originally Posted by MULTIPLEX

As far as when to start watching G1 episodes, ASAP. Even infants can recognize sound and music. Get them used to it and let the brain washing begin young

Agreed.

I would bottle feed my oldest to Star Trek (Original Series), my middle daughter to The Next Generation and my youngest to G1. The theme songs and sound effects are seemingly burned into their subconcious now. My oldest loves the old school communicator beeps I have as my ringtone, my daughter use to scream "Warp speed, daddy!!!" when I'd fly her around the room emulating the Enterprise-D warp jump sound from the theme song, and my youngest likes to transform into a bear while making the G1 sound.

[MULTIPLEX]

Btw, I meant start watching them right now! Even when baby is still inside mother, they can bop to the beats and vibrations of the show. They will remember the music and take to it right away once out. Only side effect is they may put up a helluva battle during labor for mother lol. My wife's last birth, 50 hours! But she still functions

[Janitor]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Definitely very insightful to get everyone's take and experiences.

Originally Posted by MULTIPLEX

Btw, I meant start watching them right now! Even when baby is still inside mother, they can bop to the beats and vibrations of the show. They will remember the music and take to it right away once out. Only side effect is they may put up a helluva battle during labor for mother lol. My wife's last birth, 50 hours! But she still functions

That is EXACTLY what is happening right now! I'm introducing my wife to the G1 toon (we're up to Auto Berserk as of last night) and, no word of a lie, the baby will always start kicking during the episode. Guaranteed. Other shows/sports/etc is hit-or-miss, but when that TF intro music gets going the dude goes nuts! Even works when my wife sings to him: normal lullabies only sometimes get a reaction, however I start belting out "Transformers! More than meets the eye..." and the womb starts rocking! #truestory

[Pascal]

My kids (they're 6 and 4) regularly play with Metroplex, Fort Max and even Utopia in city mode with their little figures and Hotwheels. My son also likes to play with my Primes in truck mode, my Human Alliance cars, my Cyberverse/Legends figures (he sometimes transforms them), the Rescue Bots, the V-Tech Switch & Go Dinos...

My son sometimes watch the new RID episodes with me, and sometimes some G1 (happened like once or twice), but he prefers Grendizer and Power Rangers on tv.

[carissa]

I have a little girl too, she's 6 years old now. She is allowed to play with my CHUGs and Masterpieces under supervision and I have a few photos of her standing on a stool inspecting my CHUGs in the bookshelf.

She has a few toys of her own: G1 Top Spin and Twin Twist, Prime Beast Hunters dragons, and Rescue Bots Bumblebee.

She absolutely loves G1 (or as she calls it "Big Autobots"). Her favourite characters are always the obscure ones: Sandstorm, Twin Twist, Top Spin. I've tried introducing her to the other TF shows. So far she doesn't really care for Beast Wars. She pays some attention to Animated (2007). She watched Prime with me. She likes Rescue Bots and I don't think she's made up her mind yet about Robots in Disguise (2015).

[Team Jetfire]

Congrats! My kids are 14 (boy) and 12 (girl) and didn’t really allow them access to my collection while they were younger, but they never really cared to be honest. Sure they was a time when my son, as a three year old, decimated a Gundam shelf, but that’s about it.

As for media, my daughter couldn’t care less, but my son fondly recalls RID, Armada, Energon and Cybertron. With literally hours of stuff at our finger tips there is so much cool stuff that they can latch on to at a young age.