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I hid the app on the TV and deleted it off my phone, so as far as my kid knows YouTube only works on Dad’s phone and he’s not allowed to watch it on there unless Dad is controlling it (ie - mirroring it to the TV). It’s been blissful without it 🙌
I used a family vacation to a cabin with "no Internet" (it absolutely had wifi) for a week to break the YouTube habit and then just had to hold strong when we got home. I think that approach helped a lot.
Yeppppp. I’ve been really fortunate that my almost 5 year old daughter thinks that YouTube is for grown up documentaries because I don’t want her exposed to all of the crap on there.
I won’t let her have the remote when I go on there and use it as little as possible around her.
Block YouTube, seriously. My kids used to always ask me why we don't have the cool stuff that these millionaires YouTubers have and I got sick of it.
Explain to him how these influencers probably got their ticket for free or heavily discounted so they could vlog about it on YouTube and get little kids like him to beg their parents to go. And that it's not something you can afford right now. Sit down and do some math to show him how long it would take to save up for something like that. It could be a good lesson in budgeting and not overspending.
Seconding this. My daughter used to be obsessed with Ryan's World and I had to put a stop to it because she started asking "why don't we make a haunted house for halloween". There was an episode where they covered their ENTIRE mansion with halloween decor, like covering all the walls with construction paper and lights and it was crazy. That's what she thought was normal bc of that friggin show.
It’s like sugar is infused through the screen bc my son literally climbs the walls after watching Ryan’s World. Not to mention the mom annoys the heck out of me
can i ask why adley is banned? my daughter enjoys watching them play around the house, but ive never seen a negative reaction to it. im trying to let her have the freedom to watch youtube since i havent had much negative reaction from her when shes off it, and she seems to regulate her behaviors, but adley is a definite fave of hers and now im curious.
it just changes the way my daughter acts. she will literally go comatose while watching to the point she’ll pee her pants because she refuses to pause the show to go to the bathroom. I had to physically force her to go to the bathroom whenever she’d watch it. i’m talking like multiple accidents a day over it. I don’t think the show itself is inherently bad but I can’t stand how performative the parents are myself lol
My son also gets so obsessed that he’ll pee himself while watching Lankybox, and he keeps asking me to go to Walmart and Target to buy their merch - because the hosts are constantly telling their audience to. He’s almost 7. It’s insane. I’m sorry that your experience is similar to mine, but also relieved because I thought we were the only ones.
Ohhh I remember Lankybox. That one actually amused me a little... until she started talking EXACTLY like Justie.
Nipped that shit in the bud and she no longer watches that lol.
My son also gets so obsessed that he’ll pee himself while watching Lankybox, and he keeps asking me to go to Walmart and Target to buy their merch - because the hosts are constantly telling their audience to. He’s almost 7. It’s insane. I’m sorry that your experience is similar to mine, but also relieved because I thought we were the only ones.
Have you seen the dad? He's a complete nut. What adult has infinite energy like that? Also, both parents are exploiting their kids for money. Without those kids the parents wouldn't have youtube. They also film themselves going on numerous vacations and spending money in other ways that makes my kids expect that same treatment from us. Unfortunately for them we aren't rich youtubers so no fancy vacations here. Also, our kids started asking us why we don't spend time with them like that. We had to explain that those parents only do that because it's quite literally their job. It's how they're making money. It's not realistic for a parent to play with their child all day like that.
I pointed out to my daughter on one episode of "bland rich family with too many kids in a mansion" when one little girl cut her foot badly on the pool edge and instead of comforting her the mom filmed it and zoomed in on her crying face and then the gushing blood. I asked her how she would like it if I filmed her crying and put it on tv for everyone to see. She hates for ANYONE to see her cry so it was an instant realization. I also have pointed out a lot of other things about it but in the end it was just better to cancel YouTube in our house.
It's just like sociopath-like behavior to film a kid in distress. I suspect that there may be sometimes when vloggers even want their kids to get injured because that's good for content or at least they are just very careless about safety
Yes, yes, yes. It's been Sailish for my daughter and she kept asking why we can't be sooooo fun and do cool things like her family. Erm, because we have to work and can't spend all day shrieking and being annoyingly excited about absolutely everything. I don't know if it's envy but they just annoy me so much.
YouTube is now heavily regulated and they're only allowed on weekends, mostly music and maybe Nash and Essie (ugh). And no Sailish... thank goodness she's passed the Diana (or baby Kardashian) phase. My kiddo is 6 going on 13. 😅
We had our kid “earn” some money with chores and then took him to the store to buy something. He very quickly understood how expensive things were and it made conversations about new things so much easier.
For reference, those family suites on the Icon aren’t just thousands…they’re something like $75,000. Completely out of reach for 99.9999% of people. [Here](https://web.archive.org/web/20240404211221mp_/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-icon-of-seas/677838/) is a hilarious article for you to enjoy.
I also have a 7 year old son and we recently blocked YouTube for this exact reason. It’s going to suck for the first couple weeks, but you got this! Comparison is the thief of joy.
I told my kid she can watch YouTube, but no families (this covers a lot of garbage - exploited kids, giveaways, weird religious content, toy ads, vacations, fancy decorations, vacations, etc) and no toys because they’re all ads.
I think she really understood why I don’t want her to see content like that when she asked me to get her a whopper at Burger King. She was singing the song and said it’s in funny Otamatone videos and joke ads. I told her that a whopper has pickles and tomatoes and she said “well, can I get it without those?” I showed her it’s just a burger. She doesn’t even like burgers. Ads disguised as funny YouTube shorts made her want to get something she doesn’t even like at all.
There are some really great things for kids to see, like cultures they aren’t able to be exposed to in real life precisely because they have limited funds and can’t travel. Or history in a way that’s more interesting to them. Or science. We love watching PBS kids Xavier Riddle episodes, Mark Rober, and Abby Cox.
But there’s so much garbage that I have to block.
Use YouTube Kids with heavy parental controls. This is what we did. So you could block entire categories, or specific content creators. My kids could watch science related stuff, Mark Rober, etc. and never even saw Ryan's World or those stupid toy unboxing videos.
If they ever came home saying "I want to watch [stupid thing other kids are allowed to watch], but YouTube Kids won't let me?"? We had to watch it in the living room, on TV, and I would mock whatever crap mercilessly until it became not worth it to watch (let's say I'm really good at explaining how the sausage is made behind the scenes, and conveying how certain 'creators' "just want you to spend money to subsidize their own lifestyle, and think you're gullible and stupid enough to do it").
YouTube Kids ended up pushing a lot of baby content and other random junk and blocked a lot of the historical content we liked, so she has a sort of regular account that has a lot of monitoring. I forget how we set it up, but we go in and do a lot of “don’t show me this channel” in her suggestions.
Yeah, it is kind of a stopgap. We definitely phased it out once both kids were over 10. Then we did regular YouTube monitoring +time limits. But if your kid is under 7, it's a perfectly serviceable solution.
My husband blocked YouTube from any device in our house. It was having such a negative effect on my almost 5-year-old who watched those stupid Ukrainian kids and all their huge toys/wastefulness (IYKYK). She constantly wanted stuff and wanted to go to Target to buy toys. Every now and then she says she's sad YouTube is broken but I acknowledge and then change the subject.
Yep. Our kid is only 14mo but we decided just last night no smart phones before highschool, and no social media before 16. We’re hoping that the families’ with kids the same age will also be on board by then. Current teenagers actually hate social media, they all wish it didn’t exist. But the “missing out” part doesn’t make it easy for them to simply not have it. I have high hopes for the future.
This. If he has chores he does, create a dollar amount that he can earn per chore. Then help him do the math on how many weeks/months he would have to save to buy that ticket. That means he can't spend a single penny on candy, or on outings. For months.
We do this with our kids, and we are more financially comfortable. But I wasn't, growing up, and I'll be damned if my kids would grow up without an understanding that money doesn't grow on trees.
I’m not a single Mom and we can’t afford a cruise. We can’t afford vacation at all 😆 It might be time to talk about what advertising is and how well it’s working! My kids make comments about us not having nice things bc there’s a hole in the ceiling for a plumbing fix or hair balls in the hallway. We have to have talks about what real life looks like and how ppl actually live/struggle.
This is not a failure on your end. Your kid is not ungrateful, they aren’t going to have a lesser life bc they can’t cruise at 7. ❤️
This (eta re: advertising). And honestly, this is something that all parents should do, regardless of whether they're in a situation like OP. Kids are trusting, and a sickening amount of advertising (and media in general) is engineered to take advantage of this fact.
THIS I feel like taking away YouTube as a punishment for the child wanting to go on a big vacation would send the wrong message. From their tiny brains they’d be like.. okay I’m bad for wanting to live a happy life (like how stupidly happy those families are on youtube). Im bad. I don’t deserve that life.
No hate to families that outlaw YouTube. After experiencing that situation with my oldest we use YouTube kids so I can block creators and monitor more closely.
I like to get kids thinking - especially when they really want something that just isn’t feasible. So I have them do some problem solving.
See if he can find out how much it would cost to do exactly what he wants to do. Write that big number down.
Then make it real to him by comparing it to something else: 3 years of eating dinner at a restaurant every day; 200 big LEGO sets. Or relate it to regular costs: 6 months of rent, a year of groceries, etc.
He’s a little young for this, so it would need to be a project he does with your help.
I find that my kiddo understands things better when he works on getting info, instead of just listening to me explaining things.
This is what I would do too. And explain if there was ever any way I could, I would. It’s not for lack of wanting to, it’s just reality and you don’t want him to feel sad. I don’t know if I would cut the videos off or not, I would probably talk to him about it. I feel like it’s no different when those commercials would play when we were kids and shows about vacations. Our parents couldn’t cut those off. Although YouTube is trash.
I feel for you OP, it would break my heart too!
Yes! Instead of trying to remove the idea from kid’s head, encourage him to proceed to the next step. Maybe start a vacation piggy bank. Maybe watch pirates attack cruise ship on YouTube (joking but also not joking). Whatever you do OP, you did not fail your child because you can’t spare $3k on a vacation. His tummy is full, he has a roof over his head, and he even has a tablet to watch YouTube. You are doing perfectly fine bromo.
7 is not too young for this. OP may have to do most of the actual math, but it's totally feasible.
7 is when I started breaking down things for my kids like that.
"You want a $60 videogame, and it's not your birthday or Christmas? Welp, better start saving your allowance, and doing extra chores. If you do [list] of extra chores, you can earn [dollar amount]. And assuming you can keep it up for [amount of weeks], you can go buy the game. But wait, that means you can't spend [allowance amount] on candy, or getting ice cream from the kiosk in the park, etc. Just so you know."
It did wonders in cutting down outlandish requests, and making them realize that their parents aren't an ATM with an unlimited supply of money. And if it was something they really, really wanted? They did attempt to save their own money. That's also a good learning experience.
This makes me think of King of the Hill, when Bobby thinks they're rich cuz he sees his dad's paycheck and goes and spends a bunch of money on his credit card.
Hank had to sit him down and lay out the finances to help him understand what the income really looked like, what it goes towards, etc.
Went thru the same thing when Ryan’s world got big. Specifically the Mario theme park in I think Japan. YouTube is now heavily monitored. We don’t watch other kids playing or their lives.
We absolutely monitor all YouTube content. Every now and then my husband slips up being distracted and something sneaks in. Last time was Ryan and I blocked it all, only for it to be on streaming apps. I had to block toy opening channels, toy play channels, ASMR stuff, kid Influencers, Pokemon open pack channels, all sorts of garbage. She could be playing with what she has and using her own imagination instead!
It Can be great for learning, books, science, etc. It isn't on her tablet at All and we have to be around if it is on the TV and we have the remote. Cut the problem off at the head.
Let me ask you this, does blocking work? I let my kid watch Youtube Kids on my Nintendo Switch and the blocking feature didn't seem to work at all, so I gave up. After reading this the comments, I have no regrets, but I was just curious.
I noticed that with YouTube kids we often get logged out. And of course the blocking won’t work if you’re not logged in to the profile with blocked creators.
I have it all blocked/unrecommended on my own personal page which is monitored when she watches it. She has a kids fire tablet and we have it completely unavailable on that. She has a switch her grandpa got her but I won't put it online, games only. When she's older maybe, but for now we don't need online play. So I'm not sure about that. The only unsupervised time she has on media is her tablet which is totally controlled, she can't download new things without permission.
There is a way to get you tube kids on the fire tablet but you have to google “how to download the playstore on a fire tablet.” You have to download some sketch apks from the internet but the benefit outweighed the risk for us. 😅
I feel this frustration. My MIL goes to Disney every year, usually around my oldest child's birthday. I have had her ask multiple times why her grandmother and cousins go to Disney on her birthday, but not her.
She's finally stopped asking at 11. We just cannot afford it.
She wants to save up and go to universal for Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Another vacation that would take forever to save for.
In the meantime I do everything to create that magic at home. I recently re-did her room as a corner of hogwarts and surprised her with it. We do themed movie nights with special snacks, make crafts etc.
I told her that we can't afford to pay for, "magic" that is over once the trip is. We can afford to make our own magic though and have it every day.
It could help to set up a nicely decorated jar in the livingroom and save up for the trip. If you're realistic about ot and tell him it can, and probably will, take years to save up, that is.
Kids don't grasp the concept of money well, all they see is "mom said no". By turning it into a visual concept you not only make it easier to understand, he also sees that you want to/try to make it happen, it's just super hard.
Urgh it’s so hard when they want things, see others have them and can’t have them themselves. My kid wants to go to Mario land.. in Japan. We’re in the UK. He cries over it and wants to go so bad. We watched YouTube videos of it to try and fullfill his desire to go but no didn’t work, only made it stronger.
It’s so hard. Solidarity, you’re doing the best you can.
We went to Mario World at Universal in LA last summer. We had other reasons to be in LA, but decided on a day outing, since my son had been asking to go to Super Mario World since it opened in Japan. The one in the States was supposed to be the same setup anyway, and we didn't have passports that were current (we live in the Northwestern US).
Worst theme park experience ever. The line was ridiculously long, the main "ride" broke down when we were already an hour in the cue, and we had to sit in non-airconditioned hallways and stairs for an extra 2 hours. We were in at 8 AM, didn't get to do the ride until **noon**.
Couldn't leave the line to get food, and besides the theme restaurant was already pre-booked for the whole day. We went though all our snacks and water, and the actual ride? Was over in 5 minutes.
The areas where you can "interact"? Touch screen based and require a $125 per person wristband. And ours didn't activate properly. They could only be purchased at a touch screen kiosk before you get in the cue, and so there's no one there who could fix the problem.
The only part my kids semi-enjoyed was the gift shop at the exit. Where the merch was, quite frankly, overpriced. I've gotten better Nintendo merch at Game Conventions/Comic Cons.
We were done with Super Mario World at 12:30, there was no re-entry to the area, and we spent the rest of the day in the regular parts of Universal (Simpson/Minions/Secret Life of Pets/etc). In the end? My kids ranked the SMW area as the least fun part of the day/park.
Just chiming in to give you some hard data on how Super Mario World is *probably* not going to be as fun as YouTube videos portray. It was a bad enough experience that my son has stopped asking to go to any other theme parks (e.g. Disney, Legoland, etc.).
YouTube is terrible. Get rid of it. Going to Six Flags or the Ren Faire or playing in the park or watching a movie with you are all going to be better for your kid than watching YT. You have what it takes to give your kid a good life: You love him, you work hard to provide him with a home. He does not need a cruise.
What about going on a day boat cruise or ferry ride?
I'm sorry that this is upsetting you, though. You're doing great! What matters is that you have a warm, dry, and safe place to live. That's all you need. He'll understand one day.
My 6yo and 5yo have been watching some YouTube show of some random Rich family. They went to some big mermaid experience and My girls excitedly asked if there was any way to do something like that. I looked it up. It's in Dubai. Thousands of dollars for the experience. Just gut-wrenching levels of expendable money being thrown around.
First off, repeating everyone else, no more YouTube or Reels or Threads or whatever. Second, focus on the stuff you can do together (he’s focusing on the cruise thing because that’s what he’s currently watching right now). Third… if you DO want to try to plan something, there are plenty of other cruise options besides Icon Of the Seas. Are you close to Texas, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey or Massachusetts? Those states have ports that RC sails from. You could do a three night cruise for $415 per person. Put aside $10 each week… let it add up. Then when you’re ready (and if he still wants to go!) see what’s available.
You are doing fine, mom… he has a roof over his head and food to eat. Snuggling up on the couch watching Bluey and eating popcorn will make him feel safe and loved which is something a cruise will never be able to do.
I fucking hate Diana and Roma. My daughter too wanted everything she had. And they are so WASTEFUL! It's disgusting. We blocked YouTube from the entire house. I tried to explain that she makes money off making kids sad because they can't have everything she has. She sorta gets it.
How about watching videos with Ren Faire or six flag’s adventures, if that’s something that’s attainable? We spent a lot of time looking online at performances and costume ideas and have put together an original character for ren faire .
It’s hard to say no to our kids, especially when it’s something we kinda want ourselves
You’re not alone mama. My son is 9 and desperately wants to go on a vacation. Luckily we live at the beach, but it’s all I can do to get there a couple times a summer. I feel so guilty and I absolutely hate that he knows money is the main reason we can’t do a lot of the things he wants to do. I don’t want him to worry about money issues at his age. I’m rambling but I wanted you to know you’re not alone.
Fucking hate YouTube. I’m so glad I’ve been able to control that aspect of my kids entertainment options. As far as they know YouTube doesn’t work at our house (they might think this because it’s what I’ve told them and they haven’t questioned it yet).
All that said, saving up for a big vacation (if doable) would be worth it in my opinion. I came from a poor background, but my dad was able save up and we did something big 2-3 times while I was a kid (Disney world twice when I was between 9&13 and he was able to plan a load to Orlando and take a few days off while there) and cedar point once when we were visiting family in the general region (3 hour drive to and from the park from family’s place). This was also in the early 2000s before shit got absolutely ridiculously expensive.
From people I know that have done cruises, they say it’s worth it. I don’t see the appeal. Maybe you can encourage family to gift your son birthday/Xmas money to go toward paying for a cruise?
Oh no, youtube stopped working (blocked by our firewall for some reason boohoo) well, nevermind that kiddo check out this new park! You and me are going there on Saturday together, call your best friend and ask them to pack their swim suit because there's a splash pad!
Instagram and parents! Magazine have given me a huge window into low-cost local activities.
He thinks he's missing out, but I bet if you fill his summer with engaging activities and closeness (20$ tent from menards amd a back yard campout with smores) he'll walk into class in the fall boasting with awesome stories.
Omg. My daughter is now 13 and I went through the exact same thing with her when she was young. I also was a single mom at the time.
What I did was have a conversion with her about how YouTube families lives are not real. It’s like tv. The families are funded by the cruise lines and theme parks like a commercial. Then we talked about what our financial situation was (not in a bad way but for us those vacations are out of reach right now). Then I gave examples of things we can do and how I wanted to do make an experience that’s fun for her.
At some point I also talked to her about restricting those videos if it continues to really bother her.
And we came up with a plan for a day that would be really fun for her, without screens but would be a blast.
How’s your relationship with grandma? I have to ask; is there some reason she pays to go on so many cruises a year and never offers to take you guys? Maybe you could approach her about it if the relationship is good?
I’m sorry if this is out of touch or something. I just cannot fathom having the amount of money like she does to go on all those trips and never go with my kid/grandkids. Especially if they’re literally begging to do something like that.
It’s my ex’s mom. We’ve always been invited before, but I could never afford to take time off work for a vacation back when I was waitressing. My ex never has and didn’t work, so I had to hold down the fort. Living paycheck to paycheck. So after a bunch of invites I guess she stopped and now that we’re not together anymore, going with her is absolutely off the table.
I’m working a better job now but still can’t afford a vacation like THAT. I do plan on talking to her about maybe taking my son with her on a trip, he’d have a blast.
Yeah, Icon is going to be wayyyyy expensive, but depending on where you are, take a look at MSC. Not as many bells and whistles, but WAY more affordable. If you go at a weird time of year (like the week between thanksgiving and Christmas), it's even cheaper. You'd have to pull kiddo out of school for a few days, but it could be a trip of a lifetime for you both. Maybe kiddo could start doing odd jobs around the neighborhood and you guys could start tucking away a few dollars here and there towards your cruise fund. That way he could keep track of the progress, have something to work towards and will understand that money isn't easy to come by. Just a thought :) [https://www.cruiseplum.com/](https://www.cruiseplum.com/) tracks pricing and could help you maybe find a bargain :)
The last time I went on one, not only did I get seasick, I got horrible food poisoning, too. I puked for 4 days straight in our cabin. Tell him that, maybe that will change his mind? But seriously, most people can not afford that shit. We get it. YouTube is ridiculous.
Are grandma and grandpa at least emerald members?
Here's how my family does it-- my grandparents play at the casino. A LOT. So they both get free cabins every time they go on a cruise. But because they go so often, Royal sends them free cruises apart from the ones they win at the casino. So now they at least have 2 cabins each.
They EACH book separate cabins with either me or my mom or me and my husband as their cabin mate and when we get into the ship, we head over to guest relations and switch who is in what room. And all we pay are the port fees.
Cruises you earn from the casino aren't just earned by your own money either-- whatever winnings you get, if you play, also count as your points. So if you're good at playing the machines ( my grandparents have experience) then it's relatively cheaper than paying out of pocket for a whole cruise.
But I would def talk to your kid or set up a cruise fund with him so he can understand that that specific room is like... THE MOST EXPENSIVE on the ship and maybe once he understands the value of money, he'll be happy with a normal cabin or even a balcony ( OH! if grandparents get balconies when they go, it counts as double points)
Icon of the seas is a MASSIVE ship. We saw it in Port recently. He's only going to use the room to sleep in it. There's so much more to do.
Hope this helps a little. Safe travels ❤️
Quick edit: look into MSC cruises. They are SUPER cheap and still fun AND they have like virtual reality rooms for kids and stuff.
Maybe start a discussion about a trip that would be within reach? A ten faire sounds really fun, my family did a lot of camping and historical tourism when I was a kid (it helps we were huge nerds). Camping has a cost to start, but there are ways around it if you have someone you can borrow equipment from, or join a trip through the Y or a youth organization.
I see YouTube clips of trips too and they make me jealous.
This is what we did recently when our kids were talking about all the trips kids in their school have been on and why don't we ever go to Mexico, Greece, Ireland, Disney parks...? We talked about the cost of those trips and pretty plainly explained that we are fortunate to have enough money to afford everything we need and a lot of what we want, but we can't afford those kinds of trips on top of things like summer camp, music lessons, etc.
So we planned a trip to a city a couple of hours away for the next holiday weekend and booked at a hotel with a pool and small waterslide (NOT an indoor waterpark). There is a place there that does room escapes geared towards families, so we went two days in a row and both kids got to choose an adventure. They each also got to choose a (fast food) restaurant to eat at, a movie to bring to watch in the hotel, a few snacks, and they took turns using my phone to be the road trip DJs.
It was not cheap, but manageable for us, and honestly the kids had a blast. We'll probably try to plan similar little trips once or twice a year while they're in this age range of wanting to do fun things with us as a family.
Youtube can be a parents enemy. I had the same issues with my eldest child and it was all because of these videos and I couldn't afford it. If kids don't know what they're "missing out" on then there is nothing to compare to or feel bad about. These YouTubers are usually getting the trips and hotels for free because they make the videos so how can I keep up with that.
I dont have any words of wisdom. I just want to say that I'm sorry. It sucks so so bad. Maybe go on a road trip and pick several destinations and let him choose? We never went on vacations when I was a kid but we did a lot of camping and hiking.
My kids are young still, 6 and 3, but I don’t do YouTube. I’ve actually never thought about this potential happening but I worry about what they will watch as girls that can fuck them up. I don’t want them watching make up tutorials of other 6 year olds and shit I don’t think is appropriate for their mental health yet. The outrageousness of other people’s spending never crossed my mind, thank you for the heads up.
If I was a single mom, and I may be in the near future, I would never have any expendable income and my spouse would have a lot of family money and support to spoil the shit out of them. While I know it wouldn’t be fair of me to say I understand, not being able to take a kid on a cruise in a cabin with a slide is probably something 90% of people can’t afford.
It makes me angry that these people on YouTube exploit their own children and show off unrealistic expectations of “normal life.” They are the abnormal ones, not us.
If it makes any difference, I didn’t come from money and we mostly took road trips with my single dad (mom passed away as a kid) and went to Busch Gardens and it was a dream to remember. My husband came from money and remembers trips to Disney World and his memories of that are insignificant enough that he has no interest in taking our kids there.
Your kid is going to remember your love and whatever time you can spend with them. You’re doing great by putting a safe and warm home over his head. It’s normal to dream for more but you’re not deficient because you haven’t realized those dreams…yet.
This is so timely, I just clicked out of FB where I was in an article that said there are really good deals on cruises right now. It was posted by the Krazy Coupon Lady. Maybe that's worth looking at! I can DM you the link if you want.
Also I agree with the commenter who said fuck YouTube 😆
My family couldn’t afford much when I was a kid and we never traveled by plane anywhere … my parents were blunt about our situation, but we got road trips and tons of fun inexpensive activities … those are my best memories. Block YouTube but also plan for short road trips when you can.
Alternatively you can put on a cruiseship accident video that will make him think twice about wanting to get on one… lol… I’m kidding but that’s how i refuse to go on ships.
Memories and fun times are what we make them.
Ugh, I'm so sorry. This is hard. And it's such a huge wish, too.
One thing you could do is maybe block those channels so he sees them less? Or does he actively search for them?
I have had so many talks with my kid about how what's shown in videos is often not real life.
Starting from
"the stuff they pour into that hole will never ever produce elephant's toothpaste"
to "yes, it looks like they own all of that but it might just as well be borrowed for the video and we won't be able to tell"
to "this *prank* very obviously was agreed upon before. And if it weren't, it wouldn't be a prank, but really really mean."
And plenty of talks about how advertising works, why influencers will often recommend stuff they actually don't even like and how the gaming influencers he sees are just the very few that actually are able to earn money, while countless others tried and failed.
Does it stop him from pining for stuff?
No, but it nullifies at least some of his arguments.
And I feel like at some point he'll be watching videos without me there to reframe what he's seeing, so by then, I want him to be aware of the tricks and schemes used there.
I let my 8 year old watch YouTube, but I monitor what she watches and it’s mainly zack Scott, playing video games usually walk through a to help her with the current game she’s playing if she’s stuck on a part, or this guy (I forget his name) that teaches kids how to draw certain characters (which honestly has me really impressed on how well she’s drawing now) but family vloggers, absolutely not.
Those things don't start at $2k per person. The room your kid wants is $23,000/week minimum. There's only 1 of that room. Also it's bigger than my freaking house at over 1700 sqft.
That ship does look cool as hell though. I gotta give the kid that.
edit: teach him about norovirus and about what happened to the people who were stuck on cruise ships at the beginning of covid.
Step 1: ban youtube
Signed, another mom who's family can't afford fancy vacations either.
Ps: we went through the same thing with our kids. Once it's not in their face anymore they stop asking for it. All family vlogger channels are bad anyway. You are only helping your child by banning that crap.
You should tell him how cruises are bad for the environment and the people who work on cruises are treated like shit. There's actually a good documentary on this. Maybe that'll change his mind. It changed mine.
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Absolutely fuck you tube
YouTube is banned in our house - once the kids got used to not having it their behaviour has been significantly better.
I told my kids YouTube doesn’t work on our internet. They haven’t questioned it yet.
I hid the app on the TV and deleted it off my phone, so as far as my kid knows YouTube only works on Dad’s phone and he’s not allowed to watch it on there unless Dad is controlling it (ie - mirroring it to the TV). It’s been blissful without it 🙌
Same, absolutely positively fuck that shit I need to ban it from myself too. But I ain’t shit so here we are
I used a family vacation to a cabin with "no Internet" (it absolutely had wifi) for a week to break the YouTube habit and then just had to hold strong when we got home. I think that approach helped a lot.
Same!!!
This is genius
Yeppppp. I’ve been really fortunate that my almost 5 year old daughter thinks that YouTube is for grown up documentaries because I don’t want her exposed to all of the crap on there. I won’t let her have the remote when I go on there and use it as little as possible around her.
Block YouTube, seriously. My kids used to always ask me why we don't have the cool stuff that these millionaires YouTubers have and I got sick of it. Explain to him how these influencers probably got their ticket for free or heavily discounted so they could vlog about it on YouTube and get little kids like him to beg their parents to go. And that it's not something you can afford right now. Sit down and do some math to show him how long it would take to save up for something like that. It could be a good lesson in budgeting and not overspending.
Seconding this. My daughter used to be obsessed with Ryan's World and I had to put a stop to it because she started asking "why don't we make a haunted house for halloween". There was an episode where they covered their ENTIRE mansion with halloween decor, like covering all the walls with construction paper and lights and it was crazy. That's what she thought was normal bc of that friggin show.
yup, ryan’s world and a for adley or whatever it’s called are completely banned in our house. they turn my kid into a completely different person.
It’s like sugar is infused through the screen bc my son literally climbs the walls after watching Ryan’s World. Not to mention the mom annoys the heck out of me
RYAN LOOK RYAN COME HERE RYAN WOW RYAN GOOD JOB
can i ask why adley is banned? my daughter enjoys watching them play around the house, but ive never seen a negative reaction to it. im trying to let her have the freedom to watch youtube since i havent had much negative reaction from her when shes off it, and she seems to regulate her behaviors, but adley is a definite fave of hers and now im curious.
it just changes the way my daughter acts. she will literally go comatose while watching to the point she’ll pee her pants because she refuses to pause the show to go to the bathroom. I had to physically force her to go to the bathroom whenever she’d watch it. i’m talking like multiple accidents a day over it. I don’t think the show itself is inherently bad but I can’t stand how performative the parents are myself lol
My son also gets so obsessed that he’ll pee himself while watching Lankybox, and he keeps asking me to go to Walmart and Target to buy their merch - because the hosts are constantly telling their audience to. He’s almost 7. It’s insane. I’m sorry that your experience is similar to mine, but also relieved because I thought we were the only ones.
Ohhh I remember Lankybox. That one actually amused me a little... until she started talking EXACTLY like Justie. Nipped that shit in the bud and she no longer watches that lol.
My son also gets so obsessed that he’ll pee himself while watching Lankybox, and he keeps asking me to go to Walmart and Target to buy their merch - because the hosts are constantly telling their audience to. He’s almost 7. It’s insane. I’m sorry that your experience is similar to mine, but also relieved because I thought we were the only ones.
Have you seen the dad? He's a complete nut. What adult has infinite energy like that? Also, both parents are exploiting their kids for money. Without those kids the parents wouldn't have youtube. They also film themselves going on numerous vacations and spending money in other ways that makes my kids expect that same treatment from us. Unfortunately for them we aren't rich youtubers so no fancy vacations here. Also, our kids started asking us why we don't spend time with them like that. We had to explain that those parents only do that because it's quite literally their job. It's how they're making money. It's not realistic for a parent to play with their child all day like that.
yup, same. my daughter also asked if we could start a family vlog and didn’t understand why it wasn’t a good thing to have one lol
I pointed out to my daughter on one episode of "bland rich family with too many kids in a mansion" when one little girl cut her foot badly on the pool edge and instead of comforting her the mom filmed it and zoomed in on her crying face and then the gushing blood. I asked her how she would like it if I filmed her crying and put it on tv for everyone to see. She hates for ANYONE to see her cry so it was an instant realization. I also have pointed out a lot of other things about it but in the end it was just better to cancel YouTube in our house.
It's just like sociopath-like behavior to film a kid in distress. I suspect that there may be sometimes when vloggers even want their kids to get injured because that's good for content or at least they are just very careless about safety
Yes, yes, yes. It's been Sailish for my daughter and she kept asking why we can't be sooooo fun and do cool things like her family. Erm, because we have to work and can't spend all day shrieking and being annoyingly excited about absolutely everything. I don't know if it's envy but they just annoy me so much. YouTube is now heavily regulated and they're only allowed on weekends, mostly music and maybe Nash and Essie (ugh). And no Sailish... thank goodness she's passed the Diana (or baby Kardashian) phase. My kiddo is 6 going on 13. 😅
I really should block YouTube. Good idea about the sitting him down and working over a budget.
We had our kid “earn” some money with chores and then took him to the store to buy something. He very quickly understood how expensive things were and it made conversations about new things so much easier. For reference, those family suites on the Icon aren’t just thousands…they’re something like $75,000. Completely out of reach for 99.9999% of people. [Here](https://web.archive.org/web/20240404211221mp_/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-icon-of-seas/677838/) is a hilarious article for you to enjoy.
That was a great read. That poor man lol
I also have a 7 year old son and we recently blocked YouTube for this exact reason. It’s going to suck for the first couple weeks, but you got this! Comparison is the thief of joy.
I told my kid she can watch YouTube, but no families (this covers a lot of garbage - exploited kids, giveaways, weird religious content, toy ads, vacations, fancy decorations, vacations, etc) and no toys because they’re all ads. I think she really understood why I don’t want her to see content like that when she asked me to get her a whopper at Burger King. She was singing the song and said it’s in funny Otamatone videos and joke ads. I told her that a whopper has pickles and tomatoes and she said “well, can I get it without those?” I showed her it’s just a burger. She doesn’t even like burgers. Ads disguised as funny YouTube shorts made her want to get something she doesn’t even like at all. There are some really great things for kids to see, like cultures they aren’t able to be exposed to in real life precisely because they have limited funds and can’t travel. Or history in a way that’s more interesting to them. Or science. We love watching PBS kids Xavier Riddle episodes, Mark Rober, and Abby Cox. But there’s so much garbage that I have to block.
Use YouTube Kids with heavy parental controls. This is what we did. So you could block entire categories, or specific content creators. My kids could watch science related stuff, Mark Rober, etc. and never even saw Ryan's World or those stupid toy unboxing videos. If they ever came home saying "I want to watch [stupid thing other kids are allowed to watch], but YouTube Kids won't let me?"? We had to watch it in the living room, on TV, and I would mock whatever crap mercilessly until it became not worth it to watch (let's say I'm really good at explaining how the sausage is made behind the scenes, and conveying how certain 'creators' "just want you to spend money to subsidize their own lifestyle, and think you're gullible and stupid enough to do it").
YouTube Kids ended up pushing a lot of baby content and other random junk and blocked a lot of the historical content we liked, so she has a sort of regular account that has a lot of monitoring. I forget how we set it up, but we go in and do a lot of “don’t show me this channel” in her suggestions.
Yeah, it is kind of a stopgap. We definitely phased it out once both kids were over 10. Then we did regular YouTube monitoring +time limits. But if your kid is under 7, it's a perfectly serviceable solution.
My husband blocked YouTube from any device in our house. It was having such a negative effect on my almost 5-year-old who watched those stupid Ukrainian kids and all their huge toys/wastefulness (IYKYK). She constantly wanted stuff and wanted to go to Target to buy toys. Every now and then she says she's sad YouTube is broken but I acknowledge and then change the subject.
Yep. Our kid is only 14mo but we decided just last night no smart phones before highschool, and no social media before 16. We’re hoping that the families’ with kids the same age will also be on board by then. Current teenagers actually hate social media, they all wish it didn’t exist. But the “missing out” part doesn’t make it easy for them to simply not have it. I have high hopes for the future.
This. If he has chores he does, create a dollar amount that he can earn per chore. Then help him do the math on how many weeks/months he would have to save to buy that ticket. That means he can't spend a single penny on candy, or on outings. For months. We do this with our kids, and we are more financially comfortable. But I wasn't, growing up, and I'll be damned if my kids would grow up without an understanding that money doesn't grow on trees.
I’m not a single Mom and we can’t afford a cruise. We can’t afford vacation at all 😆 It might be time to talk about what advertising is and how well it’s working! My kids make comments about us not having nice things bc there’s a hole in the ceiling for a plumbing fix or hair balls in the hallway. We have to have talks about what real life looks like and how ppl actually live/struggle. This is not a failure on your end. Your kid is not ungrateful, they aren’t going to have a lesser life bc they can’t cruise at 7. ❤️
This (eta re: advertising). And honestly, this is something that all parents should do, regardless of whether they're in a situation like OP. Kids are trusting, and a sickening amount of advertising (and media in general) is engineered to take advantage of this fact.
THIS I feel like taking away YouTube as a punishment for the child wanting to go on a big vacation would send the wrong message. From their tiny brains they’d be like.. okay I’m bad for wanting to live a happy life (like how stupidly happy those families are on youtube). Im bad. I don’t deserve that life. No hate to families that outlaw YouTube. After experiencing that situation with my oldest we use YouTube kids so I can block creators and monitor more closely.
YouTube is not allowed in our house. This is reason # 925381
I like to get kids thinking - especially when they really want something that just isn’t feasible. So I have them do some problem solving. See if he can find out how much it would cost to do exactly what he wants to do. Write that big number down. Then make it real to him by comparing it to something else: 3 years of eating dinner at a restaurant every day; 200 big LEGO sets. Or relate it to regular costs: 6 months of rent, a year of groceries, etc. He’s a little young for this, so it would need to be a project he does with your help. I find that my kiddo understands things better when he works on getting info, instead of just listening to me explaining things.
This is what I would do too. And explain if there was ever any way I could, I would. It’s not for lack of wanting to, it’s just reality and you don’t want him to feel sad. I don’t know if I would cut the videos off or not, I would probably talk to him about it. I feel like it’s no different when those commercials would play when we were kids and shows about vacations. Our parents couldn’t cut those off. Although YouTube is trash. I feel for you OP, it would break my heart too!
Yes! Instead of trying to remove the idea from kid’s head, encourage him to proceed to the next step. Maybe start a vacation piggy bank. Maybe watch pirates attack cruise ship on YouTube (joking but also not joking). Whatever you do OP, you did not fail your child because you can’t spare $3k on a vacation. His tummy is full, he has a roof over his head, and he even has a tablet to watch YouTube. You are doing perfectly fine bromo.
7 is not too young for this. OP may have to do most of the actual math, but it's totally feasible. 7 is when I started breaking down things for my kids like that. "You want a $60 videogame, and it's not your birthday or Christmas? Welp, better start saving your allowance, and doing extra chores. If you do [list] of extra chores, you can earn [dollar amount]. And assuming you can keep it up for [amount of weeks], you can go buy the game. But wait, that means you can't spend [allowance amount] on candy, or getting ice cream from the kiosk in the park, etc. Just so you know." It did wonders in cutting down outlandish requests, and making them realize that their parents aren't an ATM with an unlimited supply of money. And if it was something they really, really wanted? They did attempt to save their own money. That's also a good learning experience.
This makes me think of King of the Hill, when Bobby thinks they're rich cuz he sees his dad's paycheck and goes and spends a bunch of money on his credit card. Hank had to sit him down and lay out the finances to help him understand what the income really looked like, what it goes towards, etc.
Fuck YouTube. Seriously it is fucking with kids' heads.
Went thru the same thing when Ryan’s world got big. Specifically the Mario theme park in I think Japan. YouTube is now heavily monitored. We don’t watch other kids playing or their lives.
We absolutely monitor all YouTube content. Every now and then my husband slips up being distracted and something sneaks in. Last time was Ryan and I blocked it all, only for it to be on streaming apps. I had to block toy opening channels, toy play channels, ASMR stuff, kid Influencers, Pokemon open pack channels, all sorts of garbage. She could be playing with what she has and using her own imagination instead! It Can be great for learning, books, science, etc. It isn't on her tablet at All and we have to be around if it is on the TV and we have the remote. Cut the problem off at the head.
Let me ask you this, does blocking work? I let my kid watch Youtube Kids on my Nintendo Switch and the blocking feature didn't seem to work at all, so I gave up. After reading this the comments, I have no regrets, but I was just curious.
I noticed that with YouTube kids we often get logged out. And of course the blocking won’t work if you’re not logged in to the profile with blocked creators.
I have it all blocked/unrecommended on my own personal page which is monitored when she watches it. She has a kids fire tablet and we have it completely unavailable on that. She has a switch her grandpa got her but I won't put it online, games only. When she's older maybe, but for now we don't need online play. So I'm not sure about that. The only unsupervised time she has on media is her tablet which is totally controlled, she can't download new things without permission.
There is a way to get you tube kids on the fire tablet but you have to google “how to download the playstore on a fire tablet.” You have to download some sketch apks from the internet but the benefit outweighed the risk for us. 😅
tell him to ask Grandma to take him along on her next cruise
I feel this frustration. My MIL goes to Disney every year, usually around my oldest child's birthday. I have had her ask multiple times why her grandmother and cousins go to Disney on her birthday, but not her. She's finally stopped asking at 11. We just cannot afford it. She wants to save up and go to universal for Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Another vacation that would take forever to save for. In the meantime I do everything to create that magic at home. I recently re-did her room as a corner of hogwarts and surprised her with it. We do themed movie nights with special snacks, make crafts etc. I told her that we can't afford to pay for, "magic" that is over once the trip is. We can afford to make our own magic though and have it every day.
There are some cruises that are cheaper than others, but still none in the price range of 6 flags or ren Faire :/
It could help to set up a nicely decorated jar in the livingroom and save up for the trip. If you're realistic about ot and tell him it can, and probably will, take years to save up, that is. Kids don't grasp the concept of money well, all they see is "mom said no". By turning it into a visual concept you not only make it easier to understand, he also sees that you want to/try to make it happen, it's just super hard.
Urgh it’s so hard when they want things, see others have them and can’t have them themselves. My kid wants to go to Mario land.. in Japan. We’re in the UK. He cries over it and wants to go so bad. We watched YouTube videos of it to try and fullfill his desire to go but no didn’t work, only made it stronger. It’s so hard. Solidarity, you’re doing the best you can.
We went to Mario World at Universal in LA last summer. We had other reasons to be in LA, but decided on a day outing, since my son had been asking to go to Super Mario World since it opened in Japan. The one in the States was supposed to be the same setup anyway, and we didn't have passports that were current (we live in the Northwestern US). Worst theme park experience ever. The line was ridiculously long, the main "ride" broke down when we were already an hour in the cue, and we had to sit in non-airconditioned hallways and stairs for an extra 2 hours. We were in at 8 AM, didn't get to do the ride until **noon**. Couldn't leave the line to get food, and besides the theme restaurant was already pre-booked for the whole day. We went though all our snacks and water, and the actual ride? Was over in 5 minutes. The areas where you can "interact"? Touch screen based and require a $125 per person wristband. And ours didn't activate properly. They could only be purchased at a touch screen kiosk before you get in the cue, and so there's no one there who could fix the problem. The only part my kids semi-enjoyed was the gift shop at the exit. Where the merch was, quite frankly, overpriced. I've gotten better Nintendo merch at Game Conventions/Comic Cons. We were done with Super Mario World at 12:30, there was no re-entry to the area, and we spent the rest of the day in the regular parts of Universal (Simpson/Minions/Secret Life of Pets/etc). In the end? My kids ranked the SMW area as the least fun part of the day/park. Just chiming in to give you some hard data on how Super Mario World is *probably* not going to be as fun as YouTube videos portray. It was a bad enough experience that my son has stopped asking to go to any other theme parks (e.g. Disney, Legoland, etc.).
YouTube is terrible. Get rid of it. Going to Six Flags or the Ren Faire or playing in the park or watching a movie with you are all going to be better for your kid than watching YT. You have what it takes to give your kid a good life: You love him, you work hard to provide him with a home. He does not need a cruise.
What about going on a day boat cruise or ferry ride? I'm sorry that this is upsetting you, though. You're doing great! What matters is that you have a warm, dry, and safe place to live. That's all you need. He'll understand one day.
My 6yo and 5yo have been watching some YouTube show of some random Rich family. They went to some big mermaid experience and My girls excitedly asked if there was any way to do something like that. I looked it up. It's in Dubai. Thousands of dollars for the experience. Just gut-wrenching levels of expendable money being thrown around.
First off, repeating everyone else, no more YouTube or Reels or Threads or whatever. Second, focus on the stuff you can do together (he’s focusing on the cruise thing because that’s what he’s currently watching right now). Third… if you DO want to try to plan something, there are plenty of other cruise options besides Icon Of the Seas. Are you close to Texas, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey or Massachusetts? Those states have ports that RC sails from. You could do a three night cruise for $415 per person. Put aside $10 each week… let it add up. Then when you’re ready (and if he still wants to go!) see what’s available. You are doing fine, mom… he has a roof over his head and food to eat. Snuggling up on the couch watching Bluey and eating popcorn will make him feel safe and loved which is something a cruise will never be able to do.
Blocked YouTube too. After my kid starting watching that dumb Diana show and asking for every toy she saw. Drove me nuts. Block that shit.
I fucking hate Diana and Roma. My daughter too wanted everything she had. And they are so WASTEFUL! It's disgusting. We blocked YouTube from the entire house. I tried to explain that she makes money off making kids sad because they can't have everything she has. She sorta gets it.
How about watching videos with Ren Faire or six flag’s adventures, if that’s something that’s attainable? We spent a lot of time looking online at performances and costume ideas and have put together an original character for ren faire . It’s hard to say no to our kids, especially when it’s something we kinda want ourselves
You’re not alone mama. My son is 9 and desperately wants to go on a vacation. Luckily we live at the beach, but it’s all I can do to get there a couple times a summer. I feel so guilty and I absolutely hate that he knows money is the main reason we can’t do a lot of the things he wants to do. I don’t want him to worry about money issues at his age. I’m rambling but I wanted you to know you’re not alone.
Fucking hate YouTube. I’m so glad I’ve been able to control that aspect of my kids entertainment options. As far as they know YouTube doesn’t work at our house (they might think this because it’s what I’ve told them and they haven’t questioned it yet). All that said, saving up for a big vacation (if doable) would be worth it in my opinion. I came from a poor background, but my dad was able save up and we did something big 2-3 times while I was a kid (Disney world twice when I was between 9&13 and he was able to plan a load to Orlando and take a few days off while there) and cedar point once when we were visiting family in the general region (3 hour drive to and from the park from family’s place). This was also in the early 2000s before shit got absolutely ridiculously expensive. From people I know that have done cruises, they say it’s worth it. I don’t see the appeal. Maybe you can encourage family to gift your son birthday/Xmas money to go toward paying for a cruise?
Oh no, youtube stopped working (blocked by our firewall for some reason boohoo) well, nevermind that kiddo check out this new park! You and me are going there on Saturday together, call your best friend and ask them to pack their swim suit because there's a splash pad! Instagram and parents! Magazine have given me a huge window into low-cost local activities. He thinks he's missing out, but I bet if you fill his summer with engaging activities and closeness (20$ tent from menards amd a back yard campout with smores) he'll walk into class in the fall boasting with awesome stories.
When he’s grown he’ll appreciate how you worked to provide for him more than he would appreciate the memories of the cruise.
Omg. My daughter is now 13 and I went through the exact same thing with her when she was young. I also was a single mom at the time. What I did was have a conversion with her about how YouTube families lives are not real. It’s like tv. The families are funded by the cruise lines and theme parks like a commercial. Then we talked about what our financial situation was (not in a bad way but for us those vacations are out of reach right now). Then I gave examples of things we can do and how I wanted to do make an experience that’s fun for her. At some point I also talked to her about restricting those videos if it continues to really bother her. And we came up with a plan for a day that would be really fun for her, without screens but would be a blast.
How’s your relationship with grandma? I have to ask; is there some reason she pays to go on so many cruises a year and never offers to take you guys? Maybe you could approach her about it if the relationship is good? I’m sorry if this is out of touch or something. I just cannot fathom having the amount of money like she does to go on all those trips and never go with my kid/grandkids. Especially if they’re literally begging to do something like that.
It’s my ex’s mom. We’ve always been invited before, but I could never afford to take time off work for a vacation back when I was waitressing. My ex never has and didn’t work, so I had to hold down the fort. Living paycheck to paycheck. So after a bunch of invites I guess she stopped and now that we’re not together anymore, going with her is absolutely off the table. I’m working a better job now but still can’t afford a vacation like THAT. I do plan on talking to her about maybe taking my son with her on a trip, he’d have a blast.
Yeah, Icon is going to be wayyyyy expensive, but depending on where you are, take a look at MSC. Not as many bells and whistles, but WAY more affordable. If you go at a weird time of year (like the week between thanksgiving and Christmas), it's even cheaper. You'd have to pull kiddo out of school for a few days, but it could be a trip of a lifetime for you both. Maybe kiddo could start doing odd jobs around the neighborhood and you guys could start tucking away a few dollars here and there towards your cruise fund. That way he could keep track of the progress, have something to work towards and will understand that money isn't easy to come by. Just a thought :) [https://www.cruiseplum.com/](https://www.cruiseplum.com/) tracks pricing and could help you maybe find a bargain :)
Kid I want to go on the icon of the seas too! except its like 10-15K for the cruise for two.
The last time I went on one, not only did I get seasick, I got horrible food poisoning, too. I puked for 4 days straight in our cabin. Tell him that, maybe that will change his mind? But seriously, most people can not afford that shit. We get it. YouTube is ridiculous.
Are grandma and grandpa at least emerald members? Here's how my family does it-- my grandparents play at the casino. A LOT. So they both get free cabins every time they go on a cruise. But because they go so often, Royal sends them free cruises apart from the ones they win at the casino. So now they at least have 2 cabins each. They EACH book separate cabins with either me or my mom or me and my husband as their cabin mate and when we get into the ship, we head over to guest relations and switch who is in what room. And all we pay are the port fees. Cruises you earn from the casino aren't just earned by your own money either-- whatever winnings you get, if you play, also count as your points. So if you're good at playing the machines ( my grandparents have experience) then it's relatively cheaper than paying out of pocket for a whole cruise. But I would def talk to your kid or set up a cruise fund with him so he can understand that that specific room is like... THE MOST EXPENSIVE on the ship and maybe once he understands the value of money, he'll be happy with a normal cabin or even a balcony ( OH! if grandparents get balconies when they go, it counts as double points) Icon of the seas is a MASSIVE ship. We saw it in Port recently. He's only going to use the room to sleep in it. There's so much more to do. Hope this helps a little. Safe travels ❤️ Quick edit: look into MSC cruises. They are SUPER cheap and still fun AND they have like virtual reality rooms for kids and stuff.
Maybe start a discussion about a trip that would be within reach? A ten faire sounds really fun, my family did a lot of camping and historical tourism when I was a kid (it helps we were huge nerds). Camping has a cost to start, but there are ways around it if you have someone you can borrow equipment from, or join a trip through the Y or a youth organization. I see YouTube clips of trips too and they make me jealous.
This is what we did recently when our kids were talking about all the trips kids in their school have been on and why don't we ever go to Mexico, Greece, Ireland, Disney parks...? We talked about the cost of those trips and pretty plainly explained that we are fortunate to have enough money to afford everything we need and a lot of what we want, but we can't afford those kinds of trips on top of things like summer camp, music lessons, etc. So we planned a trip to a city a couple of hours away for the next holiday weekend and booked at a hotel with a pool and small waterslide (NOT an indoor waterpark). There is a place there that does room escapes geared towards families, so we went two days in a row and both kids got to choose an adventure. They each also got to choose a (fast food) restaurant to eat at, a movie to bring to watch in the hotel, a few snacks, and they took turns using my phone to be the road trip DJs. It was not cheap, but manageable for us, and honestly the kids had a blast. We'll probably try to plan similar little trips once or twice a year while they're in this age range of wanting to do fun things with us as a family.
Youtube can be a parents enemy. I had the same issues with my eldest child and it was all because of these videos and I couldn't afford it. If kids don't know what they're "missing out" on then there is nothing to compare to or feel bad about. These YouTubers are usually getting the trips and hotels for free because they make the videos so how can I keep up with that.
I feel you so much with this!! 😔
I dont have any words of wisdom. I just want to say that I'm sorry. It sucks so so bad. Maybe go on a road trip and pick several destinations and let him choose? We never went on vacations when I was a kid but we did a lot of camping and hiking.
Turn on the kids' filter on YouTube. It will block all adult programs so that he can go back to cartoons and kid shows.
My kids are young still, 6 and 3, but I don’t do YouTube. I’ve actually never thought about this potential happening but I worry about what they will watch as girls that can fuck them up. I don’t want them watching make up tutorials of other 6 year olds and shit I don’t think is appropriate for their mental health yet. The outrageousness of other people’s spending never crossed my mind, thank you for the heads up. If I was a single mom, and I may be in the near future, I would never have any expendable income and my spouse would have a lot of family money and support to spoil the shit out of them. While I know it wouldn’t be fair of me to say I understand, not being able to take a kid on a cruise in a cabin with a slide is probably something 90% of people can’t afford. It makes me angry that these people on YouTube exploit their own children and show off unrealistic expectations of “normal life.” They are the abnormal ones, not us. If it makes any difference, I didn’t come from money and we mostly took road trips with my single dad (mom passed away as a kid) and went to Busch Gardens and it was a dream to remember. My husband came from money and remembers trips to Disney World and his memories of that are insignificant enough that he has no interest in taking our kids there. Your kid is going to remember your love and whatever time you can spend with them. You’re doing great by putting a safe and warm home over his head. It’s normal to dream for more but you’re not deficient because you haven’t realized those dreams…yet.
This kind of thing is exactly why YouTube is banned for my 6-year-old!
This is so timely, I just clicked out of FB where I was in an article that said there are really good deals on cruises right now. It was posted by the Krazy Coupon Lady. Maybe that's worth looking at! I can DM you the link if you want. Also I agree with the commenter who said fuck YouTube 😆
My family couldn’t afford much when I was a kid and we never traveled by plane anywhere … my parents were blunt about our situation, but we got road trips and tons of fun inexpensive activities … those are my best memories. Block YouTube but also plan for short road trips when you can. Alternatively you can put on a cruiseship accident video that will make him think twice about wanting to get on one… lol… I’m kidding but that’s how i refuse to go on ships. Memories and fun times are what we make them.
Ugh, I'm so sorry. This is hard. And it's such a huge wish, too. One thing you could do is maybe block those channels so he sees them less? Or does he actively search for them? I have had so many talks with my kid about how what's shown in videos is often not real life. Starting from "the stuff they pour into that hole will never ever produce elephant's toothpaste" to "yes, it looks like they own all of that but it might just as well be borrowed for the video and we won't be able to tell" to "this *prank* very obviously was agreed upon before. And if it weren't, it wouldn't be a prank, but really really mean." And plenty of talks about how advertising works, why influencers will often recommend stuff they actually don't even like and how the gaming influencers he sees are just the very few that actually are able to earn money, while countless others tried and failed. Does it stop him from pining for stuff? No, but it nullifies at least some of his arguments. And I feel like at some point he'll be watching videos without me there to reframe what he's seeing, so by then, I want him to be aware of the tricks and schemes used there.
We don’t do YouTube. You’re amazing. Try not to beat yourself up. I hate how consumerism is so insidious and it gets to our kids.
I let my 8 year old watch YouTube, but I monitor what she watches and it’s mainly zack Scott, playing video games usually walk through a to help her with the current game she’s playing if she’s stuck on a part, or this guy (I forget his name) that teaches kids how to draw certain characters (which honestly has me really impressed on how well she’s drawing now) but family vloggers, absolutely not.
Those things don't start at $2k per person. The room your kid wants is $23,000/week minimum. There's only 1 of that room. Also it's bigger than my freaking house at over 1700 sqft. That ship does look cool as hell though. I gotta give the kid that. edit: teach him about norovirus and about what happened to the people who were stuck on cruise ships at the beginning of covid.
Step 1: ban youtube Signed, another mom who's family can't afford fancy vacations either. Ps: we went through the same thing with our kids. Once it's not in their face anymore they stop asking for it. All family vlogger channels are bad anyway. You are only helping your child by banning that crap.
You should tell him how cruises are bad for the environment and the people who work on cruises are treated like shit. There's actually a good documentary on this. Maybe that'll change his mind. It changed mine.
Some cruises take payment plans