> > Took everyone's advice - mainly yours, Stephen, and bought the Gameboy Advanced SP's. And two games - one per child. And flinched at the cost.
>
> I wish my mom had had your mindset when I was a kid. One time I saved up my own money and wanted to buy my *own* Nintendo, and my mom wouldn't let me. I think she had some kind of grudge against video games; when we were younger we had an Atari and we used to fight over it. Three kids, only two joysticks. Plus she says my dad used to stay up past midnight playing it.
>
> Gri"all things in moderation"shny

Well, my kids have been asking for over two years now. We had *many* discussions about total amount of screen time allocated per day (TV + computer + Gameboys). And we made it clear that reading, swimming and playing outside (all things my kids love now) would not be allowed to diminish over the summer.

I took this as an opportunity to teach that parents can change their minds when it makes sense to do so. But they understand this is a privelege - and one that can be taken away ;-).

te "Grish said it best - everything in moderation" ach