So, I have 2 boys....4 and 8....and they are great kids. But last night I caught my 4 year old playing the Wii without the wrist strap on....so I told him he could not play anymore because he was not follwing the rules. This morning, he came downstairs and asked if he put the wrist strap on could he play the Wii. And, I said of course....he merrily goes upstairs......and in 15 minutes I hear a BANG !!! He let fly with the remote RIGHT into a 37" LCD TV which is now ruined...... And it is exactly 2 months out of warranty........ I am not mad about the TV...well a little bit, but I am seriously PISSED that he told me he would put the strap on and then didn't do it. Now, I have to go out and buy a brand new LCD....gonna go bigger.....but I don't know what punishment to give him....... He has been cowering under the covers for over 30 minutes now....which is a start !! I am taking punishment suggestions from the gallary ! DD
Make him play the Wii for 4 days straight until he gets so sick of it that he never wants to play again.
OMG, not playing his Wii without the wrist strap?!?!?!? You better get control of that kid of yours. Pretty soon, he'll be knocking over liquor stores and having sex with crack whores...
Wait until the Rockets lose a game, then make him copy down (pen & paper) every post from every thread made in the GARM that night.. edit: maybe just all threads related to Rafer and/or JVG
if i ever have a kid, and at some time deserves punishment, i always thought a great punishment would be have him sit at the kitchen table watching the clock...doing nothing. in the beginning, i would say i'm thinking of a punishment but i just don't know what yet. as soon as i come up with one, you can just sit there. i'll then just go about my day ignoring him and not allowing him to interact with anyone or anything for at least a couple hours. i don't know what could be more mind-numbing than sitting in front of a clock not knowing your fate.
4 years old... that's a tough one. No TV at all for a week? Including, of course, playing games on one? Longer? Beats me. When I was a kid, that would have gotten a spanking from my Dad, but I don't do that with my kids, and I'm sure you don't, either. The pity of it is that you got the new wrist straps. (mine came in the mail a couple of days ago... much better!) Good luck!
chances are, the knowledge that he broke the tv will be punishment enough. if you and your wife can hold out, I'd suggest not replacing the tv immediately to continue the impact. But at four years old, and this being an accident, I wouldn't get too worked up about it. (yes i know the tv had to have been expensive, but it is just a tv and he's not hurt)
I don't have any problem with my kids playing the wii without the straps on, it's my wife that I have to watch. She never puts the strap on and I yell at her every time. I think I should punish her BEFORE the LCD gets broken.
We were going to be playing the Wii all day today, so I am going to have to hump it to Best Buy and see what they have on the floor. I just called them and they don't even carry the good Westinghouse ones anymore.... They have a great deal on a 42" one for about a grand but it is 720p.....the one that is broken is 1080p...... Dang it !!! I was so angry but I never spank when mad.....and he knows he screwed up......but now his older brother is mad at him too, cause he can't play the wii or the Game cube now and it is going to be rainy and a possible ice storm....got to have something for boys today or the rest of my house will be destroyed !!!! more.....I Just talked to BB repair and they said it will be $800 to have it fixed.....so I am probably going to get it fixed, but still get a new one in the meantime. Again, the TV breaking is funny.....but the fact that the little fart lied to me is what I am pissed about. DD
The kid is only 4 years old. A good punishment is no unsupervised Wii playing. Cowering under the cover for 30 minutes is enough. No punishment is going to reinforce the idea that he did something wrong anymore. Any further punishment to a 4yr old will only make you feel better --- not teach him anything he hasn't already learnt.
I agree with Deckard's suggestion. Especially with the cold while you and the 8 year old are playing the game, restricting him from it should send an effective message. Couple that with a good fatherly talk about trust, and cut the grounding back to 3 days.
Buy the new TV from costco and get their unlimited return policy. Its like getting an extended warranty for free and the best part is that they don't fix it. They just give you the purchase price back to you if something is broken.
Throw the Wiimote at him and ask him how he likes it, and tell him that he would not have gotten hit if you had put the strap on.
