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NOVEMBER 26, 2001
TV or Not TV?
When gifts cause rifts.
by Terri Mauro
Alright, it's time for an MWA survey. The questions:
Does your child have a TV in his/her room?
Would you ever give a child a TV as a gift without asking his/her parents if it was okay?
Would you be shocked if they said no?
A close relative announced the other night that she was giving my daughter (11 years old, in 4th grade) a TV-VCR combo for Christmas. When I said we really did not want her to have any such thing, this relative declared that she'd never heard anything so ridiculous, that it's quite the normal thing for kids to have their own TVs, and that she hadn't asked before buying because it never occurred to her there could be a problem. She then insisted she was giving the item whether we liked it or not, but has since, mercifully though not without pouting, retreated from that position.
Maybe she realized that I was planning to give her daughter a puppy in retaliation.
copyright © 2001 by Terri Mauro