I am so ticked off with oldest son..very

[Dammit Janet]

This Mobigo is by Vtech and it looks like it will be much better for her. It has the touch screen like a DSI or whichever is the newest or whatever...I am so not up on gaming systems...lol. It also talks to them so they dont have to read. It also has a flip out keyboard like a cellphone so as she learns to type she will learn that. It asks them to touch letters in some games. I like that you can go on the Vtech website and download more games too. Im gonna see if her momma will get her the Vreader so she will have that at her house and I get her the Mobigo for here.

[Hound dog]

I just have to LMAO!!! Our sweet lil Keyana is so spoiled hahahahaa. Such a lucky little girl to have such adoring grandparents. Nothing wrong with spoiling, mind you, been doing my fair share since I've been out of school. Went to yard sales with Aubrey and Darrin today and came home with treasures unbelievable, both kids were in heaven. lol Nana maybe spent 20 bucks. They are so much fun to go with........both really get in to yard sales and stretching the dollars I give them......and talking Nana into the absolute must have wonderful toy that they can't buy for a dollar. I get such a kick out of it. Nichole keeps asking why I bother to give them a dollar........neither of them usually spend much of it.........well dunno it's just a fun thing we do together, just like I did with my grandma. Some things are just like that. lol

Hmmm. Not sure but sounds like Tony has a bad case of over compensation where the boys are concerned. It's awesome that he's such a great dad to them and genuinely loves them, but he's proven that. Funny but when Travis went off to school the person I had the most issues with was dh........the last person in the world I expected it from!! The man liked to have driven me nuts. lol I dunno how but you're going to have to work with Tony to see that making Billy become a man to the best of his ability is a very good thing for him. If he goes out, tries and fails.........well then you know either he needs a better plan or he can't do it. He can't stay in limbo forever. Not fair to Billy and not fair to you all either.

Hugs

[susiestar]

I am sorry that this kind of selfishness is so much a part of Billy. Seems to me that if Billy can hold a job at radio shack, which requires some very technical knowledge, plus how to get along with customers, ability to sell (I won't buy at ours b/c no one in there cares a fig if you have questions - they want to push the items they get a big commission on and if you don't want those they don't have time for you at all, to the point of fighting over who HAS to ring you up instead of playing the computer game! NOT joking at ALL - had it happen once, then dh said it had to be a fluke and only they carried something, then it happened again to us and the 2 people ahead of us. As soon as the guy stopped his game and signed in to the computer and rang it up I did a meanie. I said "HOW much? The same brand is XX lower at Walmart. I am going there, come on dh!" and walked out. It WAS that much left at WM, but dh would have paid the radio shack higher price b/c the guy stopped his game!!!! Not me, not AFTER he argued in front of us several times about how HE shouldn't have to stop, and even asked us to wait just five minutes until he was done with "this round". Not not not not not!!

Anyway - Billy should have all the skills he needs for the most part to live on his own. Budgetting will be hard b/c he doesn't have to. WHy not if you cannot kick the kid out, start dividing all the utilities at least in 1/3 and have him pay 1/3 of them - but if he tells you to turn things off or not to do something b/c it ups the bills then he needs to find a way to make sure HIS things are unplugged all the time.

Remind Billy that it is said that hi tech devices drain a LOT of power even if they are plugged in and NOT turned on. So if he wants to HAVE all that stuff he needs to UNPLUG it ALL - or figure out which circuit breaker is for his room and flip it if he isn't home. Doing that for a month should give both Billy and Tony an idea of how much his toys are draining YOUR pockets. Then if Billy wants to pay that OVER his $100 he can have the toys. Otherwise you need to find creative ways to make him miserable - and say you just "didn't think he would mind" b/c "I told you like you told me about the game system and other things that benefit just you".

If Tony has a real problem I am SURE you are creative enough to find ways to let him know what you think about how he favors Billy Who Must Be Coddled and Jamie Who Can Do No Wrong over Cory - who HAS messed up and is working super hard to do things right in spite of some VERY PAINFUL problems. Maybe remind Tony that if his back hurts he moans and groans, but Cory hurts like that or worse just from standing up and HE isn't complaining about working at Pizza Inn!

There has to be some way to help Tony see how this is unfair all around. Esp b/c it helps keep Billy a child, or less than a man, and encourages Jamie's selfishness/his wife's selfishness even when it hurts YOU so much. Heck, Jamie and his wife insist on YOUR bed and they cannot even give YOU a decent place to stay or food to eat when you go to their home. Maybe reminding Tony of this, and how Cory tries now to make you feel welcome, and at least cooked when he had to stay with you during his house arrest, maybe htis will help you get through to tony.

IMO Tony may be insisting that Billy stay at home b/c Tony is afraid something will happen to you or your health and then he won't be able or know how to cope, esp with the budget/bills/household stuff. That fear can do a LOT to keep a parent from encouraging a child to spread his wings. Esp if the child is comfy at home in the nest!

[svengandhi]

My 20 year old is on his way to Billy-dom so I feel for you. OTOH, I would not give a 4 year old a DS of any sort. They don't need toys like that. The Vtech sounds more age appropriate.

[Marguerite]

I've only skimmed much of the posts, sorry. But Janet, there is something you might not have realised. The only reason I do, is I also have kids who have gone through the gamut of deciding on the various versions of DS, the pros and cons.

I suspect what Jamie sold was the first edition Nintendo DS. It's old, clunky and difficult to hod with small hands. He may have genuinely thought it too unsuitable for a small child, in so many ways. Also the newer games are being made for the newer versions of DS. Even second hand games are increasingly incompatible with the oldest versions of the DS.

I remember when the DS Lite came out, it was thinner, lighter and actually more robust than GFG3's original DS. But he still looked after his DS until it finally broke a hinge with long-term use. He then bought himself a DS TouchScreen, loves it.

The older DS machine will operate old Gameboy game packs, but as I said, they are prone to breakage. The heaviness of the thing when you open it means the main place they break is the hinge. A younger child especially, is far more likely to break it there.

So check it our before you blow up at him. Involve him in your thoughts on this - and yes, I do think there could also have an element of total thoughtlessness - he saw the deal (frankly, $20 for a old-style DS is not that much of a discount although it indicates how they are not so well-valued these days) and acted impulsively.

I think you need to re-tink how much board he gets charged, or alternatively, require some more involvement in running the home (chores, for example). His room is his space, leave it alone. But he must not encroach onto the rest of the house, and as a member of the household, when it's all hands on deck to get jobs done, that means him too. That's the flip side of cheap rent - you pay it in other ways.

Marg

[Dammit Janet]

Marg...I would have thought NOTHING of him selling it if he had waited just till we got her again so I could go get ONE age 3/4 game from a used place to try on her. That way I would have known for sure. Also, I probably would have seen this Mobigo and thought it was better for her anyways. It isnt that I expected him to give his up to her. Not at all. I just wanted a chance to try the game that didnt take reading out on the game. It also ticks me off that a grown man of his age thinks that he needs another gaming system when he doesnt have his own place. Good lord he has a monster computer built for gaming. He had a Ps3 but he sold it because he got bored with it! So why buy a Ps2? I badly want a Wii. Im not getting one anytime in the near future. My dad has one. I think my dad was about to offer it to Tony for me but Billy spoke up to him and said that I would never use it!!! Arghhh!

I dont have a clue why Billy is able to work retail. You would think that wouldnt be a fit at all but customers love him. He has people who are repeats who only come in to see him. He has gone out and set up systems for folks who cant do it on their own. Fixes cell phones for people who get confused, especially the more elderly folks.

[Fran]

Gfg's eval in pre K said he couldn't walk backwards on his heel. We laughed thinking that he just won't do that. Of course, they should have said that it was an indicator of non typical neurological development. Results should be explained to the parents instead of assuming we understand what those abnormal tests indicate. Same with toe walking.

[Dammit Janet]

Well, Keyana can skip, she can hop, she does tippy toe a bit but I think thats because she is constantly dancing. Now she is doing her dance moves learned in class but you wouldnt know it unless you knew she was taking dance...lol. She twirls and flits and dances on one foot across the room with one hand in the air following it with her eyes. Quite comical until you realize she is doing a routine she is taught...lol.

[Star*]

I had NO idea you liked biscuits. UGH......

[Marguerite]

YOu can never predict what a kid can or can't do. PC2/GFG2 has been diagnosed with dyspraxia and problems with kinesthesia. And yet she has amazing balance and has been stiltwalking professionally on one metre high stilts, since she was 8 years old. She also is borderline Aspie, yet is loved by customers.

GFG1 was very shy, preferred to be away from the public. But once he knew what he was doing (when a volunteer at the zoo) he found he was able to interact with the public with no difficulty.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Janet, when you said a grown man shouldn't need another game system. When you're dealing with any level of PDD, "grown man" takes a lot longer before they're finished developing.

What I could suggest, is ask him if any of his gaming friends have an old DS you could borrow to test the game.

Marg