So the other day my son was throwing a fit because his tablet couldn't play minecraft and his friends tablets can. My wife said why don't you let him use your tablet? My response was I paid $250 of my money for my tablet, and he already broke 2 laptops, and a $600 phone, and since than we bought him a kids tablet, because I got tired of him breaking all my electronics because he is extremely careless. Also I mentioned how when I was his age tablets didn't exist, and how when I was a kid I wanted a game boy, but we couldn't afford one, and we got by just fine.
My wife started calling me selfish, and kept saying I don't care about my son. Instead of giving him my tablet I looked at his and found out exactly why minecraft wasn't working, and fixed it.
I just need to mention some history to this argument. So at one time I had 2 laptops and a Samsung galaxy s 4. But at my wife's insistence my son was allowed to play with all of them, and over time broke each one. Each time she basically guiltrd me into letting him use my electronics again and again. The only reason I bought him his own tablet is because I got tired of having my stuff broken. And figured it would be easier than arguing with my wife.So I bought a tablet for kids and hoped it would stand up to his abuse.
Do you think I'm being selfish?
Kids are ment to be being kids! Put him outside with a ball and a bat and let destroy the backyard instead of your electronics lol
No I personally don't think you r being selfish your wife sounds like a piece if work to me let's go over this you have your son three chances to not be careless and use your stuff, he broke all your stuff you don't have to give him another chance explain this to your wife and don't let your kid get away with acting like a brat
NO, I totally agree with you. If he can't use something without breaking it he doesn't get to use it. I would not let him use any of my electronics. If he breaks his stop his pocket money (Or part of it) until he Re-pays the cost of the repair, Or get him his own insurance and deduct the cost from his pocket money.
Andy C
Honestly, it sounds like you are being bullied by your son and your wife is giving in. He needs to learn responsibility and not giving into what he wants instead of him just living with it because you shouldn't be the one suffering. Broken electronics add up to a very pricey bill and you shouldn't have to share everything in your family. Imagine if you are a kid and you bought your own phone and your other kid friend has one but it won't work the same as yours or just wants to play with it and you are told to share your phone even though you bought it for yourself. Should you have to? No. There were no luxury of toys like that back then and if you had to suck it up, so should your son. Now that he has his own tablet, let him learn from his mistakes if he breaks it, don't pay for another one or let him use yours. Make it clear and have him pay for it next time because paying something expensive yourself makes you value your things a whole lot more.
So no, you are not being selfish about any of this because you value the things YOU own for yourself and know the risks and outcomes by past events. Don't let your son bully you and don't give in to your wife if your son can't be responsible for your things.
NO, you sound like the most reasonable parent in the world. I'm a 17 year old girl with a 24 year old sister who would do the EXACT same thing and my parents always gave in and she never learned her lesson. Never learned responsibility. She still lives with us because she never learned any lesson. She turned out very badly and its scary how similar she sounds to your son. Broke every electronic, even ones that weren t hers and she would get the new ones paid for and in the mean time she would use everyone else s things and they would just let her. She was never without. Always catered to. That s exactly what being spoiled is. It doesn't always mean being showered with gifts. Either way, the consequences are the same.
Your wife is giving in. She is guilting you into to doing the wrong thing. She probably doesn't know its wrong because she is probably focusing more on the "now" situation and not the "overall" situation. She just sees that her son is upset and wants to fix that as soon as possible without even considering the long-term consequences. She wants to give into his instant gratification wishes. She wants instant gratification too because she d rather have him be okay now than be okay in the long run, you know? In a summary, she s downright spoiling the child. You re clearly the logical one while she is being ruled by her feelings. I don't think you need to settle this with counseling or anything I just think you should have a talk with your wife, maybe show her these answers. I'm assuming that s what you intended to do anyway.