The Parenting Thread

[carissa]

Originally Posted by 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!!).

I forgot to mention this the first time, but AIM FOR JULY 28TH LITTLE MAN! Share Peter Cullen's birthday!!!!!!

I am born July 27th myself, so I am happy that my birthday is so close to his.

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Omegatron

My two kids are 7 and 5. The eldest is a boy and loves transformers almost as much as I do. He's a bit rough though so he has his own toys. Off course he also wants to borrow mine so I have some I let him play with as a special treat and others I won't let him play with. G1 is off limits, so is masterpiece, I usually tell him they cost too much to break (even by accident), which he seems to understand. I'll let him play with the Unicron trilogy stuff though. Later I'll probably let him play with Alternators and some of the more complex stuff that I can live with if he breaks but he's not ready for the complex transformation yet.

My daughter is not interested in Transformers (if it's not stuffed or named Elsa she doesn't care). I love her anyway though, there is no accounting for taste.

Funny, pretty well sums up my kids 7 years ago. Funny thing is that my daughter has a lot of the same collecting traits as I do, only it's for American Girl.

[CanBot]

I need to read this thread in more detail, but no time right now. I can say that my little daughter wasn't keen on the G1 cartoon the other day, sadly! Then again, it was "B.O.T."....so I can't say it was the best episode to start with

Would I let her play with TFs in my collection? No.

Would I see which ones she likes, and get her alternate, simpler versions to play with? Yes!

She's great with not putting small toys and objects in her mouth, it's never been a safety hazard. She's got lots of 'girl toys' that have smaller parts and she just doesn't do that, but she can be pretty rough with toys. Modern TFs wouldn't stand a chance with her.

I see no problem in getting age-appropriate TF toys for my kids when they're old enough. I fear, though, that without a good cartoon for them to latch on to, they'll just think they're so-so. Case in point: my nephew, who used to love Transformers (and watched all the G1 episodes) eventually got bored and moved on to Star Wars. There's just a lot more options out there today in that line, and the kids at school talk about Star Wars a lot more than they do Transformers...who is basically just talked about by Dad and Uncle Canbot

[Shockwave 75]

Congrats dude!

Originally Posted by Janitor

Do you let your kids play with your toys?

No, I don't. My son s 4 now and I have gone out of my way to give him his own.
Click the link and go to my collection thread. On page 3 you will find pics of a shelf full of Rescue Bots, those are his, and he knows it. When he is down in my nerd cave (supervised of course) he knows that he is allowed to take those and play with them. I also take a selection of them and rotate them in and out of his toy box so he doesn't get bored of them.

-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?

My son has already seen every TF show. Including the Japanese ones. And he loves them all!

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

Well, as already stated, my son has all the Rescue Bots figures and he also has the Bumblebee service station and the big Optimus Prime fire station.
He loves the show, and bugs me on a regular basis to watch it.

[mastereh]

I actually bought a bunch of cheap toys that sit at the front of my shelves so that my son can grab them and play with them.

Sometimes he does cry to play with the bigger Masterpiece figures and sometimes while he is with me I let him. The only one I'll let him handle on his own is MP-01 Optimus Prime. It's heavy and sturdy enough for him.

He's only 3 so as he gets older and starts being rougher on them I will not allow him to.

[1970CUDA]

Congrats to you! I have 2 boys (7 and 4) and most of my newer figures on display but mostly still in the package. I do buy duplicates some times if they really like a particular figure so they can play and not open mine. However the bulk of my collection is in storage which includes a lot of original G1, alternators and various other figures. When I finish my basement they will go on display but will be off limits because I couldn't afford to replace any of those figures now especially the original Optimus and megaton I've owned since '84. I know it will be tough as they will for sure want to play with them.

[OLDMR]

no mine are under lock and key

[Shockwave 75]

I don't think I'll ever let my kid play with my G1's. They're just too old and delicate.

My wife recently found a G1 Wheeljack at the Salvation Army, and we let the boy play with it. I showed him how he transforms, and after a few times he got the hang of it. But after he went to bed I put it away because Wheeljack is just too old a rare to let my 4 year old destroy it.
I'd rather try and sell it.

[Rev]

Only supervised and only a select few. Daddy has his toys and son has his. He's cool with that. When I get a new toy (always MP or 3rd party these days) I let him hold it and look it over before it goes in the case. He respects that. He's 5.5.