Spectacular pictures, posters and commercials activate children’s curiosity and arouse the passionate desire to get IT – at all costs. And you hear more often: “I want!” yes “Buy it!” Can this process be resisted?
Buy or forget?
Strictly speaking, children under four do not particularly respond to advertising. And they are more likely to respond to our parental interest in her. An advanced hi-tech rattle, a multi-story designer, a Barbie doll with a wardrobe for all occasions – the little child does not need this. But we have it.
Very often, we strive to bestow on our children simply because we have been told: fashionable means good. We must comply with the spirit of the times. Or because in our childhood there was nothing of the kind. So first you need to learn how to mask your interest in a particular object of the market for children’s goods, even if you are sincerely interested in it.
And still…
Advertising or not, but the child’s eyes of course daily fall on a variety of highly attractive objects.
The first thing that needs to be done is to minimize the risk of meeting them. To build, for example, walking routes in the district or in the hypermarket in such a way as not to fall into the zone of temptations.
Just in case
Young children often themselves do not know what they want, and often ask just like that, just in case. Deliberately postpone purchases: it is highly likely that in a day the baby will not even remember about the toy, which was simply vital the day before.
The second is to keep in mind that young children always want to receive what they desire immediately. And the younger the child, the more difficult it is for him to wait. So, the most reliable way to protect yourself from unnecessary acquisitions is to turn the attention of the child to something else. In the vast majority of cases, the question will be removed.
The third important nuance: it is important for any child to have what his friends and girlfriends have in order to be mistaken for their own. Indeed, many children’s things (toys, magazines, clothes) are a kind of clan sign. It is better not to refuse categorically, but you need to prioritize. The task is to select from the mass of requests and requirements really the most necessary (that is, prestigious in the eyes of the child and his peers). And the choice of things with the attributes of cartoon characters is now very large – you can always find a compromise for every taste and budget.
Everyday Tips
Habits are laid from early childhood. And the right attitude to shopping also needs to be formed now, in the first years of life.
- Suggest a choice. You can’t buy a doll and a designer, let him choose one thing. Do not impose anything, just direct. Let him decide what is acquired first, then what. Disappointed with the choice after half an hour? Nothing wrong. This is how we learn to make the right decisions.
- Learn to handle money from an early age. The child must understand that money does not fall from the sky and tend to end. Even a baby should understand what is “expensive” and that you will not spend all the money on it. It will be easier for him to realize this if you do not realize all his desires, even if he asks for nothing at all. It’s not worth buying, on demand, everything that your baby poked with his finger: even at such a young age, children should know that parents cannot (and should not) satisfy their every “consumer” desire.
- Be sure to explain the reason for your refusal. The kid should know that they reckon with his opinion and that if they have not bought, there are good reasons. Give reasons that are accessible to the concept of the baby (“Yesterday we bought you… and today we need to buy for your grandmother…”). Show that there can be pleasant things in such a turn of events (“You will give it – she will be delighted!”, “Well done, you care about grandfather…”). Comment on purchases for other family members – the child will understand that he is not the only object of financial investments and will learn to wait in line.
