No characters allowed!

[greenbeene]

My 2 year old nephew's parents do not want any sort of character introduced into his life. He is not allowed to have any toys that have any sort of character on them. No Thomas the Tank Engine, no Kung Fu Panda, no Mickey Mouse, no Sesame Street, etc. They do not watch TV at all, they only watch Veggie Tales. I understand they don't want him idolizing anyone or anything, but if the kid is not allowed to watch anything other than Veggie Tales, then how is any other kind of character any different? Thomas the Tank Engine is just a train with a smiling face. Mickey Mouse is just a mouse with a smiling face. They don't even have to acknowledge the fact that they are popular characters with names. Mickey could just be referred to as a mouse. Thomas could just be referred to as a train. How is a Christian vegetable with a face and a name any different? The kid could idolize a Veggie Tales character just as easily as any other. I could understand if he was exposed to these characters through other TV shows or movies, but he has never been exposed to anything other than Veggie Tales.

[Newmom!]

Parents have their own ideals. As he grows older they may relax or stay just as stringent. Either way, since you know their wishes - abide by them. There are just trains and just mice out there - so get him generic gifts instead of character based ones. After that, let them raise their child their way (as it really isn't hurting him) and you raise your children your way.

[HappyTim]

You know, at 2 years old, I can understand wanting to limit a child's exposure to marketing. Taking such a hard-line stance at 5 or 6 will be nearly impossible, but I don't see any reason not to respect their wishes. There are plenty of wonderful non-branded gifts you can buy for the child at that age, and aside from gift-buying it doesn't really affect you. I'm probably being a little idealistic, but I hope to minimize any television watching until pre-school or so aside from anything truly educational.

[Newmom!]

HappyTim - as long as you don't stick your child into daycare where they watch TV - and you don't let him watch anything with you, you can probably do it. I started with that intent, but Daycare and limited You Tube videos has my 2.5 year old really begging to watch TV - however we still are able to limit it to 0-1 hour a day - usually less than .5 hours. So you can do it, but hold out as long as you can to make it easier on yourself (less begging from a toddler :-)