Curtain Monkey Detox
 

A friend of mine is trying to detox his son off "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Any suggestions?

"Hmm, I don't know, I just can't find it either. We've looked EVERYWHERE... Oh well, maybe we'll find it in the morning. Do you want to pick another book?"

Is that horrible and cruel of me?

Yes.

Here's the thing. Your kids won't figure it out when they're little. But when they're older, they will remember incidents like that and they will figure out what you were doing.

My Mom pitched a huge stuffed pink elephant I had as a toddler. It wasn't until later that I figured out what happened - I was rather loud and obnoxious for a while. But the big thing was that I trusted my mother less.

Re: Curtain Monkey Detox
 

Kids have a high comfort level with books they already know. So it's not so bad reading books repeatedly. However, it's never too early to teach kids about being considerate of others.

When I'd had too much of a certain book, I'd remind them that Dad was doing the reading and they needed to pick something else.

It's the new millenium, people. it's not the book, it's the DVD ... parents READING? It is to laugh.

If I find my son getting too into a particular movie, I simply tell him "no" when he asks for it. If I say no because I'm sick of it, I ask him to choose a different movie (usually he does this without prompting. I'm quite proud at how good he is at attempting compromise). If I say no because I think theres too much TV going on in the house, I tell him we aren't going to watch TV and suggest something else (colouring, climbing trees, baby basketball, whatever). I don't make any attempt to hide the movie or peretnd its broken, I simply tell him "no". Sometimes, I think, a kid just needs to hear it.

As far as books go, if he's getting too into a book we just go to the library or over to Borders and I let him pick out a new one. I really want to instill a love of reading in him, and Case and I make a point of reading to him at least once a day. I try never to refuse to read a particular story, but when I'm just sick of "Corduroy" I'll ask him to pick something else. All his books are kept at eye level. His, not mine.

Couldn't have said it better Perth. Too many parents just want peace and quiet so they let their kids have whatever they want.

The thing is, you'll never get peace and quiet if the kids run the house.

Good gosh with all the crap that kid is going to be immersed in, why would you WANT to wean him off chitty chitty bang bang?

And besides, kids grow out of things on there own, in there own damn time.

Which reminds me, where are my fucking legos?