🚨I know many tweens and teens like to be involved with setting up or building their gifts and that’s great, but particularly for younger kids or for any device that you want to have parental control set on, do it ahead of time. This also goes for older family members as well.
🤔If your reason for not setting it up is because you want your child to learn patience and delayed gratification, ask yourself if it’s actually about patience or if it’s about the type of gift (tech vs non tech, “toy” versus “practical”).
💪Don’t get me wrong, these are important concepts, but trying to impart them on a busy, exciting day isn’t setting anyone up for success.
🤯”but back when we were kids we had to wait”. Ok but did you like that? Was it fun? And if it was a technological device, how long did it take to set up? Getting a game boy or a Walkman in the 80’s and 90’s was a gift that has nearly instant gratification- no apps, no connecting to internet, no downloading updates or making accounts.
😳If you’re giving a gift AWAY from home and you aren’t able to access internet wherever you’ll be, keep in mind that many devices (including “screen free” devices like audio players) are still internet dependent and much harder to setup (if not impossible) without reliable internet.
And if you know your child or family member would like to be involved with setting up the device, that’s fine! But be sure to give them a heads up when they open it so they know what to expect
🥳Make whatever choice is best for your family, just make sure you’re going in prepared!
