erm take the DS off them.

Now, let me preface this by saying I'm not a parent. I was a kid, once, and that's how I'm qualifying this statement.

Buying one of anything for four children will make them fight over it, stupid.

Her kids have always been garbage.
Don't have kids cause then you have more video games for yourself.

curse those evil nintendogs...! i think she should try GTAIV and go watch ricky gervais' sketch about kids with cancer branded as 'little baldys'

@ Geno

Dog prostitutes no less.

Here's a mom who bought 4 kids one toy and had no control over how they use it. Genius.

It should read. "UK mum: I turned by kids into monsters and I'm blaming it on the Nintendo DS"

It sounds like she doesn't want to be responsible for parenting.

@ Sherlock

What? The b**** had it coming!

HA HA! MULTIPLE ENTENDRES!

Anyways, sounds like someone just passing off the blame for her failure of being a parent. She probably got the DS just to get them off her hands and is now suffering big buyer's remorse.

Of course there are issues. Four kids, all of which under the age of 11, are forced to share a single unit with each other. I still remember when I was that young. I could barely share anything with my one sibling, I can't imagine sharing with three. Like everyone else is saying, she needs to work on how she manages her kids' time with it.

@nightwng2000

These directions should be given to every parent.

Oh, and of course the cheap shot, in the family picture you can clearly see what's wrong with it. The dad split. He's nowhere to be found.
Sounds like he knew what was coming :)

NINTENDOGS MAKES ME WANT TO PUNCH BABIES!

Seriously.

...

Seriously, it does.

Solutions:

1) Take the DS away
2) Buy a home console and only 4-player games, sheesh.
3) Buy 3 more DSes.
4) Teach your kids how to share.

Any of those work.

Also, lol @ using piracy for a simpathy vote.

Has anyone tried to leave a comment on her page? I had a pretty well written comment that I prepared, but the page kept looping back to the "Enter the characters you see in the image" security confirmation..

Anyways, heres what I was going to post:

It sounds to me like you need some practice on handling your children better. I've grown up playing video games and while, yes, my parents did struggle a bit initially in curbing my desire to play games when I should be doing other things, they came up with a plan tailored to both parties needs that restricted my use when I needed to be doing other things. As of right now, I am 21, a successful post-secondary student, have a good job as a computer programmer, and am currently into my 15th year as an amateur performance cellist. Clearly, Video games did not ruin my life, and even now, they will remain part of my life until I can't handle a controller any more. The bottom line is all it takes is a little bit of understanding and thinking to get your children behave the way they should with regards to video games, and with some good parenting, your kids will be very successful, with or without video games.

Of course they turned into assholes, you bought multiple kids ONE toy! That will happen regardless of which toy you buy for them. Kids are selfish, so have some...well...have some balls and teach them to share, or take the damn thing away until they stop f**kin' around!!

Should really be posting these comments to her site (link in story)...

Boy.. children fighting over belongings. Thems DS's is da debil! DA DEBIL!

Sounds like normal child behaviour to me you loon!

The best part is the picture of the kids.. I can tell by the evil look in their eyes that this chick's sons are far worse than she has any idea about.

I tried commenting last friday and it still hasn't been approved. What do you expect from a rag like the Daily Mail?

She's from the Daily Heil. What more is there to say?

@Skyler

no doubt man, have you ever been hit with a piece of hot wheels track? they hurt like hell.

As for the author of this mindless drivel, I seriously hope you meant this tongue-in-cheek, because if not, you're a complete and utter tool, and frankly, a failure as any sort of authority figure to your kids.

Rosie Millard just proved to the entire world what a dumba## and lousy parent she is.

Ummm buy 4 DS's?

You have 4 kids and buy 1 DS? It's the equivilant of throwing a single slab of meat into a Lion's den! And be a parent to your kids! Take it away if that's how they'll act!

I wouldn't say the Daily Mail is the equivelent of Fox, it is in a class of its own. Hell, I don't think your average mail reader is the same as your average fox viewer.

Headlines are often petty, sensationalist or grossy misrepersenting a story. Ever heard a Brit joke "Ban This Sick Filth," well thats a classic reference to your standard hate mongering Mail headline.

Got seven minutes? Watch this, a bloke only gets news from the mail for a month and charts his progress, entertaining, insightful and tongue wedged firmly in cheek.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNUTWET14BU

Should have bought a Wii.

Case. Fucking. Closed.

I cant help but notice there are no comments on the article.
Im inclined to think that its because the one who reviews the comments is most likely her, and since people arent supporting her no comments have been posted

Why one DS for 4 kids? And she didn't regulate how they take turns with it.

If you just got a new computer, kids would fight over it. They are kids, and they want to be the one to have fun. It's not the DS fault, it's just kids being kids.

There is a simple solution to this problem, one word PARENTING. I mean seriously... If I had thrown tantrums or didnt behave or played anything at the table I would have been:
1-whipped/spanked
2-grounded from everything except breathing/eatting/sleeping
3-had the device confiscated for a long long LONG time and would have had a better chance of regetting the thing for christmas.
(in any order and all of the above.)

Also...when has ONE of ANYTHING been a good idea so SHARE with 4 kids? of course there will be fighting over whos turn it is to play it (this would happen with a barbi or hot wheel). When I was growing up I had a game gear (yes the 20 pound giant box that had the audoucity to be called portable =P) with sonic. Did I play it non stop? hell no, cuz i wasnt allowed, I played it when I was done with homework or on a trip somewhere. And if it did get taken away and I went and stole it from my parents like those kids did...my parents would have ensured I never had the chance to again. What would have happened is I would have recieved 1-3 above, but as an added bonus they would have sat me down, set the game in front me (at a safe distance) and smashed it to bits. The problem today is that parents dont want to parent (alot of them, not all). Get a clue morons, its not the game that is evil, its your lack of parenting (to the ones who dont.)

Buy three more DS systems for the three that did not receive the other one first.

Case. Fucking. Closed.

@Wookiee

I doubt it.

"At first, I decreed that the device would be a "family Nintendo", passed around lovingly by everyone as we all played Brain Trainer together."

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Wow, not being able to forsee that the kids would fight over a single lusted-over toy makes you a moron.

Are you sure? It sounds like something out of the Brady Bunch.

It's been covered already... but 4 kids+1 single-player game system = Harmony and happiness?

Since she ordered it from HK, there isn't a way to say she didn't know what she was doing. The kids may have been begging for it, but she actually bought it... and, being a cheapskate, got a modded cartridge/system.

So, did she mean to appeal to all of them with that all in one?


Maybe she needs to spend more time thinking about the longer-term impact before making any purchases for sharable objects. She's just a crummy parent and refusing responsibility for her own actions. I feel sorry for her kids, not her.

Sadly, this is more common than my parents, who limited my time with a gameboy and even took it from me and hid it for weeks if I behaved poorly. That's good parenting; setting the line and establishing clear reward structures and penalties for behavior.

Something this breeder (not a parent) lacks.

I expect this was the result of that ad requesting how video games lead you to a life of crime. This lady was probably bought and paid for to make such a statement.

I think this is the new advertising concept. They used to tell you important stories were coming up:
"President visits Pensylvania."

When that didn't get enough veiwers/readers, they tried to entertain:
"A dog saves the life of a Fireman, details coming up!"

Still not enough readers, so then they tried to frighten:
"There is something in your home that is slowly killing your children, find out what it is at nine!"

Now, the next great idea is to insult a group, and watch all the viewers come rolling in. I think they are working on the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

"Gamers are morons!"
"Nintendo didn't raise my children the right way!"
"Top 10 reasons why our viewers suck!"

For now on, whenever a news story insults gamers, tells a rediculous story like the one above, or has JT on for any reason, they will not get my viewing, my advertising hit, or anything. I'll make a note in GP, perhaps, but I won't support Faux News, Daily Fail, or any other tabloid press.

As for the story:
I've seen bad parents, and I've seen how their kids turn out. I wouldn't like to see how these kids turn out in 15 years. I wonder how many will be out on probation and how many will still be in jail. Kids will be kids, but you need to learn this stuff sometime, and if their parents don't teach them, they will have entitlement issues, which often lead to taking something because they think they deserve it, or simply because they want it. When I was 5 I had already learned that you don't mess with your siblings stuff, and that it was better to give something up and have the option of playing it later then to have something removed altogether. Simple cause and effect. This lady sounds like a dog fight promoter, throwing a toy in amougst her children just to see who would come out with it.

lol. Well you know what I guess this lady is just scapegoating games. She is obveously not doing her job as a parent right. The nintendo ds is never really heard in the news about bad controversial games. The games she described sounds harmless as well. Its not nintendos fault that your kinds act up. The probrally really like the games. So they want to play them, and get involved in playing them. When its time to stop playing the games they probrally act up.... or the mom trys to take away the game forcefully....

@Ben Ambroso

To be fair, that baby was being a dick


I think Bill Maher summed up handling discipline problems with small kids best with (and I'm paraphrasing here) "You're bigger than them, use your size advantage"

My sister-in-law had a similar problem when she got her son a DS and not her daughter. Her solution was to buy the daughter one for her birthday too, and thus ended the fighting over them.

Now if she'd just stop them from bringing the games to the dinner table. If I can take a break to eat, so can they.

Also... being English I can't resist a class comment. How stereotypically middle class pushy-mum can you get: "My d-h-arlings gave up their violin/cello for this game". Seriously, just how old are those children? Starting early, ok, if they are keen but daily morning music practice? They are barely out of nappies. Ugh... welcome to Pardonia.

News flash, Children don't like to make their beds, tidy their rooms or enforced music practice. Given half a chance they'll do something they find fun to do instead, it's a parent's job to see that doesn't happen.

Also, given that there was only one DS what was the excuse for the other three children's unmade beds etc?

Right I'm done now.

Gift.

Sounds like a case of a bad parent who can't take responsibility. An it has been proved in studies, that kids do learn from their parent's actions and inactions. Since she is irresponsbile, they will learn that being so, and making excuses is 'ok'.

If junior is playing and you want him to do something, nightwng2000's steps. The only thing I would do differently from nightwng, is step #3.

I would say "Find a point to save your game, your done until (insert task/activity). If you get done to my satification, you can play until bedtime."

This wasn't apparently thing, but, well, a long while ago my brother was sitting on something I needed to move. Every time I asked I got "I'm in the middle of a game" in a whiny tone. I got fed up and just yanked the AV cable, it caused an argument, however, he could have paused it at any time and wouldn't, so I did what I had to do.

If this woman did the same, or something like it, this would have ended better

Based on what she says, she doesn't appear to have been raising these children properly for years. The fact that they have the nerve to dig through her desk and bag to find the DS after she hid it shows how little they respect her. My guess is that they already didn't really listen to her before; the DS only made the problem more pronounced.

And what's wrong with this woman that she can't take the DS away from her kids and make them go to bed, practice their music, or eat breakfast? If I'd tried something like that as a kid my mom would have taken the thing away and not not given it back for a week. I knew she was serious so I listened and didn't get punished.

Honestly woman, get a brain. Your children are not perfect angels. They're underdeveloped, self-serving humans who aren't psychologically mature enough to have a sense of morality. Give them a few years and they'll be able to police themselves, but until then you need to be the responsible parent who keeps them in line. Your kids need structure and rules to develop correctly; you don't do them any favors by letting them run amok.

@GP

It's the Daily Mail. Implausible though it seems, this article is deadly serious.

It's like the print equivalent of Fox News.

Except more right-wing.

Really.

I'll call it, since no one else said it first:

SHENANIGANS!

Either that or just really, REEEEALLY poor parenting skills...

OK, as kids age they become unreasonable and sometimes "demons." If you want to be like so many others and blame your children's behavior on anything but yourself go ahead, I don't care.

@jccalhoun

More likely trying to shift blame so they look worse.

Oops... Wrong thread. My bad!

um, maybe buy more than one DS, so they don't have to share.

For the love of god, woman. How old are they? Newsflash: YOU ARE THE PARENT! YOU MAKE THE FRICKIN RULES! YOU ARE NOT A POLITICIAN AND DO NOT HAVE VOTERS POLLS YOU NEED TO MIND! YOU CAN STOP THEM FROM PLAYING IF YOU WANT TO!

*breathe in*

Im all better now, thanks.

Is that kid on the top right the devil?

She need to teach them some sharing overhaul. She should teach the older one to look after the younger ones and to keep the younger ones out of trouble.teach them about team work and raise them to respect one another. Talk with them calmly and they may listen and understand much better then if you shove it down there throats. Fear is not effective as it can hamper them as individuals to always be in fear of authority and never question.

@Nightwng2000

Class: Parenting 101
Chapter 43: How to stop a child from playing a handheld video game when you want them to do something else:

(1) Approach your child.
(2) Look stern, cross your arms.
(3) Tell child “Please turn off the game, you’ve had enough time to play it and should do for awhile.”
(4) Some games require saving at a certain point. Be certain you have obtained sufficient information on your child’s games to know about the save procedures. Allow a reasonable amount of time for saving (2 minutes for example).
(5) If child respectfully asks for a little more time, offer a respectful compromise, as you see fit.
(6) If child refuses, inform child the game will be taken away, even without allowing to save game, as needed.
(7) Be as firm as the situation warrents. Be as respectful to your child as your child has been to you.
(8) Use appropriate punishment methods, ranging from short term grounding to permanent removal of the game system.

Most importantly:

BE A PARENT!

FLAWLESS VICTORY

"Sounds like one of those pirate 20-in-1 carts. If it’s as reliable as the pirate GBA game I got conned into buying on Ebay, it probably erases all their saves every day or two, which would probably cause problems too."

And kids easily blame each other for that too

I submitted a comment, though I'm not sure the site captured it:

I'd like to hope that this is a bit of snark and not entirely serious, because if it's not and is meant to be completely serious, it would rank up at the top of the list with the most ignorant ramblings of a person who has no grasp on parenting in the digital age and who chooses instead to pass blame on her failings off on things she doesn't fully understand.

Well if she had a husband to help out around the house that might help...

OH WAIT!!! Having kids and being a single mother was HER DECISION just as raising little devil children with no rules or boundaries!

Will wonders never cease? I do believe Nintendo has absolutely nothing to do with this.

YEAH!

That's right! Playing the Phantom Hourglass can teach you to kill people with swords,and Super Mario World can teach you to jump on peoples heads to kill them.What we really need to worry about is the new Guitar Hero game for the DS coming out,cause it will teach kids that its acceptable to have Nirvana and Rick Springfield on the same play list.

ugh this is typical of the daily mail, an overly zealous rag thats so far to the right it can wave at the left from the other side.

a typical headline:

gang violence + video games + immigration concerns + falling house prices = END OF BRITAIN! oh yeah and diana was murdered by the british secret service btw... ok maybe that was slightly exaggerated but you get my point.

jeez... if ur kids are fucking you about... take the damn system away! They'll soon shut up after that.

I saw pics of the kids on another site forget which one. They look like monsters haha.

@Michael

Daily Mail.

See, it is a joke.

Not two, Relax_guy, FOUR.

she needs a straight jacked if she is being serious.

funny.. when i'm at church (i'm almost 25 BTW) i got these kids swarming around me wanting to borrow my DS every sunday... and you know what's the surprising thing? THEY TAKE TURNS. (kids range from 5-10 years old... maybe even up to 12)

granted, they were only playing Mario Kart and they do get into argument sometimes (who and which car's faster, how to tackle the race, etc) but.. goodness sake! i've never seen anything like what her kids are doing.. or so she claims...and this is like.. what? 5-7 kids.. sometimes even more!

when i was a kid, me, my siblings and someone my cousins take turns playing on the ol' gameboy... and if we argue or try to hog the unit.. mom comes in and no one gets to play!

Guess we know which tabloid rag was offering money for VG horror stories.

Heh.

Four kids under the age of 12 and one thing that they all like?
Can't end well, can it?

she sounds like an irresponsible spoilt brat getting herself into all that debt with 4 kids to raise, no wonder her kids explode with excitement a

http://www.rosie-millard.co.uk/rosie/262-miles-no-worries/#comment-37



oooooo i wonder how long that will last :P

I am still.. so very sad HER PERFECT little angels were corrupted by such horrible sin!! I just can't get over it!

Alas - perfection RIPPED from their little souls all on account of video gaming.... how sad is that?

I SO respect parents I know - that are assured their children are perfect.

@relax guy

LOL

Seriously. That has got to be some of the funniest shit I have ever read.

That sentence by her all by itself begs the question whether she would hop right into bed with any man she meets... Hmm.

@Phil Harris

If we're not intelligent then we are at least a source of entertainment and humor to those races who actually ARE intelligent.

the mother wants her child to go shopping and this is how she makes him stop playing!! (it´s a bit sadistic though, i would have allowed the little fellow to save it first).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9UGY7xOFuv8

rotfl !!

Bad parenting and a popular toy is a toxic mix no matter the parent, child, or toy.

Okay, what I can't understand:
'Nintendo turns my delightful, curious and funny children into argumentative demons full of aggression'
From what I read, I can understand it! These are children not even in their teens and they're having music forced on them every bloody day! So they get ONE nice (most likely illegal) toy between FOUR of them and they all want a go on it... All I can say is forget 'Mother of the Year' lady, you don't even know how to be a mother. When I got my Gamboy Colour I was so happy, I'm now 15 and expecting all C-A GCSEs and my life is very games orintated, hell, I'm wearing a Nintendo 'Know Your Mushrooms' shirt as I type. All I see is a scapegoat and an unfit mother. Plus I hope charges are brought against her for having a modded Console/Cart.

here's another case of bad parenting.
congrats, your officially retarded

My mom locked my gameboy in a cabinet in her bedroom during weekdays when she felt as though it was distracting me from schoolwork. It worked.

I love how this lady likes to blame her poor parenting skills on a mere toy she could simply take away from the kids.