> We played outside (there was nothing to do inside anyway)
Having happily spent hours playing with the dirt under a bush in my front yard with Star Wars action figures when I was young, lost in my imagination, aided by props, I lament the complete shift that has occurred for many kids. It's a sea change, and I was ecstatic recently when my toddler niece played in the dirt on my watch - only got caught because she got dirt on her cheeks - I hope she never loses that curiousity - her parents were away...
Now my nephews - my sister has successfully resisted the introduction of video games for at least six years - hope she can continue to fight. For when the video game console gets in, it will change expectations forever.
My son really loves video games but he spends way more time playing outside, including playing in the dirt with action figures (more often Mario figures than Star Wars, though).
There are no doubt kids who don't play in the dirt because of video games, but in my experience they're few and far between. Having watched my kids with lots of neighborhood friends, I'm inclined to think that if modern kids don't play outside as much, that's more likely to be because of lack of freedom (due to hysteria over child predators) than because of video games.
Many adults these days have very fond childhood memories both of playing outside and of video games — it makes me sad to think of a child missing out on either.
> my sister has successfully resisted the introduction of video games for at least six years - hope she can continue to fight.
idk. I bought my son a Nintendo DS when he turned 3 (reward for potty training). I'm really glad I did as he's already showing off some cool mathematical and logical thinking ability. There's good games and bad games, plusses and minuses as with everything. I think the key is variety and moderation.
And they would be completely wrong. Just like everything in life, it is about proportions.
Playing WoW in a cafe until you die: something wrong with you (even before the lack of heartbeat). Having an xbox party with friends once a month: nothing wrong.
In all the research I've done, potty training begins when the parents decide they are sick of changing diapers and ends when the child is physiologically prepared. Happier parents and kids occur when those two dates are as close as possible.
Four kids, potty trained between two and four and a half (hence the research).
I'm from the UK. Potty training generally happens at age 2 or 3. To achieve full dry night potty training is usually more like age 3. However, it's pretty common for kids to need a lot more time to go through the night dry.
I don't know. I recently borrowed a book from a co-worker, a young mother, about potty-training. They talked about different approaches in different parts of the world. The author was American, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to cross-check what she wrote. (And most people on HN are from the US, that's why I assumed so.)
Some ofthe problem, at least in my part of Australia, is there isn't really any outdoors to play in anymore.
When I was a kid, house sizes were smaller and blocks were larger. The house I grew up in would have been < 100 square metres, and the block about 1000 square meters or so. This meant loads of backyard; we had a large workshop (loads of wood, tools etc), a chook run, a few fruit trees, some trees for climbing, paved area (concrete slabs) for bikes, some grass and a veggie patch. Now most houses are well over 200 square metres, and land much smaller. Many new housing developments near us call anything over 500m2 'large'
And beyond the house... when I was a kid there were large areas of natural bush land to play in/explore. Now they're pretty much all gone, replaced in part by (what we call) ovals - a grass playing area for footy/soccer and with perhaps a swing and slide in the sun. Not much fun.
Roads are busier too. We built a go-kart (non motorised) and my parents had no problems letting us tear down the local hill road in it. Street cricket or footy was also very common, but again, just not possible now
They now produce TV commercials encouraging kids to play outside, presumably to reduce child obesity.
I'm only 25, and my parents steadfastly refused to buy me a video game machine when I was a kid, but this still flabbergasts me. Playing outside is something public service announcements on television are telling kids to do. What the hell?
My parents kept a stranglehold on things like TV and Video Games, and I'm glad they did. They slowly lost ground around the time I hit high school, but because of it I spent a literally obscene amount of time building things with Legos. I built some really cool stuff, too.
I was never much of a play-in-the-dirt kid, if I wasn't building something I didn't see the point. (sure, you can build stuff with dirt, but my imagination called for a bit more than dirt could manage as a building material)
Comments
> We played outside (there was nothing to do inside anyway)
Having happily spent hours playing with the dirt under a bush in my front yard with Star Wars action figures when I was young, lost in my imagination, aided by props, I lament the complete shift that has occurred for many kids. It's a sea change, and I was ecstatic recently when my toddler niece played in the dirt on my watch - only got caught because she got dirt on her cheeks - I hope she never loses that curiousity - her parents were away...
Now my nephews - my sister has successfully resisted the introduction of video games for at least six years - hope she can continue to fight. For when the video game console gets in, it will change expectations forever.
My son really loves video games but he spends way more time playing outside, including playing in the dirt with action figures (more often Mario figures than Star Wars, though).
There are no doubt kids who don't play in the dirt because of video games, but in my experience they're few and far between. Having watched my kids with lots of neighborhood friends, I'm inclined to think that if modern kids don't play outside as much, that's more likely to be because of lack of freedom (due to hysteria over child predators) than because of video games.
Many adults these days have very fond childhood memories both of playing outside and of video games — it makes me sad to think of a child missing out on either.
> my sister has successfully resisted the introduction of video games for at least six years - hope she can continue to fight.
idk. I bought my son a Nintendo DS when he turned 3 (reward for potty training). I'm really glad I did as he's already showing off some cool mathematical and logical thinking ability. There's good games and bad games, plusses and minuses as with everything. I think the key is variety and moderation.
I still don't play video games. Is there something wrong with me?
not really, not everyone plays a musical instrument either :/ Up to you what you enjoy.
I don't read novels.
Some would say there's something right about you.
And they would be completely wrong. Just like everything in life, it is about proportions.
Playing WoW in a cafe until you die: something wrong with you (even before the lack of heartbeat). Having an xbox party with friends once a month: nothing wrong.
It's all shades of grey in between.
I absolutely agree (though the people downvoting me probably don't think so.)
Where are you from? The US?
Is it normal to do potty training so late?
In all the research I've done, potty training begins when the parents decide they are sick of changing diapers and ends when the child is physiologically prepared. Happier parents and kids occur when those two dates are as close as possible.
Four kids, potty trained between two and four and a half (hence the research).
I'm from the UK. Potty training generally happens at age 2 or 3. To achieve full dry night potty training is usually more like age 3. However, it's pretty common for kids to need a lot more time to go through the night dry.
Talk about shaping the evidence to suit your hypothesis.
I don't know. I recently borrowed a book from a co-worker, a young mother, about potty-training. They talked about different approaches in different parts of the world. The author was American, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to cross-check what she wrote. (And most people on HN are from the US, that's why I assumed so.)
Some ofthe problem, at least in my part of Australia, is there isn't really any outdoors to play in anymore.
When I was a kid, house sizes were smaller and blocks were larger. The house I grew up in would have been < 100 square metres, and the block about 1000 square meters or so. This meant loads of backyard; we had a large workshop (loads of wood, tools etc), a chook run, a few fruit trees, some trees for climbing, paved area (concrete slabs) for bikes, some grass and a veggie patch. Now most houses are well over 200 square metres, and land much smaller. Many new housing developments near us call anything over 500m2 'large'
And beyond the house... when I was a kid there were large areas of natural bush land to play in/explore. Now they're pretty much all gone, replaced in part by (what we call) ovals - a grass playing area for footy/soccer and with perhaps a swing and slide in the sun. Not much fun.
Roads are busier too. We built a go-kart (non motorised) and my parents had no problems letting us tear down the local hill road in it. Street cricket or footy was also very common, but again, just not possible now
'That' Australia still exists, although it been displaced by the tentacles of many property developers and their sympathetic councils.
Move away from overcrowded big cities, and you will have all the room you desire.
They now produce TV commercials encouraging kids to play outside, presumably to reduce child obesity.
I'm only 25, and my parents steadfastly refused to buy me a video game machine when I was a kid, but this still flabbergasts me. Playing outside is something public service announcements on television are telling kids to do. What the hell?
My parents kept a stranglehold on things like TV and Video Games, and I'm glad they did. They slowly lost ground around the time I hit high school, but because of it I spent a literally obscene amount of time building things with Legos. I built some really cool stuff, too.
I was never much of a play-in-the-dirt kid, if I wasn't building something I didn't see the point. (sure, you can build stuff with dirt, but my imagination called for a bit more than dirt could manage as a building material)