happy Father's Day

[SimonC]

it's Father's Day here in the uk, I've had a great day with the mystic ruby, I hope all the dads on the forum have had a good day

[kellebotond]

My son always refers to my magic closet as "dad's toys section". He is 4 years old now and it is very hard for him to understand why he is not allowed to play with my "toys". That's why I do not like to have a display cabinet right now: I think it would be cruel for my kids to be able to see all those cool plastic items and not allowed to play with them. (My parents collect vintage toys and I remember sanding in front of their locked huge display cabinets at home when I was a kid.)

Does anyone have the same problem?

[Roberto B.]

Interesting topic kellebotond..........this is something totally new for me and I really don´t know how to handle it........I have even consider to consult a children psychologist for an advice.

Robertito is now 1 year and 2 months........so he is starting to pay attention to my cabinet.....day by day with increased interest.

I don't want to allow him full access to my magic ítems for two main reasons:

1.- I don't want him to break my toys
2.- I want to teach him that to get the things that you want you need to put a lot of effort, hard work and passion for it.....so......allow him to play with all this ítems so easily thanks to his daddy's efforts....well....I don't think that is the best way.

AND.........by the other side I don't want him to see me as an egoist.

I think that your solution is great......unfortunatelly at the moment I don't have enough space to put my stuff out of sight (not only the magic ítems....I also have a lot of other toys (Star Wars, Transformers......etc). The good thing is that Robertito is still very young.....so I have time to move to a bigger house a do the same that you did.

I know that Simon is in a similar stage than me......but don´t know about the other members experiences.

I would really apreciate to hear your experiences/opinions on this matter as this is would be very helpfull on a matter that is totally new for me.

[SimonC]

Ruben is 15 months so just about the same as Robertito, he is currently opening EVERYTHING and I'm glad my magicabinet has a lock on it! I don't open it I front of him because it would be unfair for him to see so much cool shiny stuff,lights and mirrors and expect him not to want to play with it so I save it just for me (for now). He is very inquisitive tho, and I've been collecting a set of tricks I had as a kid called 'abracadoobries' that are easy to learn and come in in individual blister packs. I'm about halfway there, but I want to have some that I can give him every so often to introduce him to magic. He watches me practice and is fascinated, and he's seen me working with cards so much, he picked a pack up in a shop and wouldn't let go of it, I was so proud
I think once he's older I'll show him my cabinet and maybe choose one trick a week to show him, and let him try and work it out, it's a brilliant way to develop lateral and creative thinking and it would be nice to have a bit of father son time too. For now I'll just keep photoshopping him into magic

[Roberto B.]

That is a good idea Simon.....to choose one trick a week and work with it for some days.

Awesome photo by the way!

[VictorS]

Hi guys,

I never thought that this forum will become also magic parenting topic. I have same situations guys. Well my position is similar like Botond`s. I have 6 years old daughter and 4 years old son. My daughter has less curiosity in magic comparing to my son. But she still enjoys my performance. My 4 year old son become more creative to find the way to open my magic cabinet. Fortunately some of lower level cabinet are locked but not for the higher one. He starts now to take a stool and climb on it to open my cabinet. Smart boy huh.

Well...based on my experience, I would say we cannot prevent our kids to stay away from the cabinet, because their curiosity is very high. the more we forbid them to stay away,that will increase their curiosity. This will not become a solution. What I can do with my boy is to talk like an adult,try to respect each other and being as fair as possible as father (as Simon mentioned). Well talk as adult maybe not valid at the moment for Simon and Roberto but for Botond. I made a deal with my boy to respect each other toy. I keep my promise to show him magic trick he would like to know (the easy one for him to understand) even the Tenyo one or my other pop up books. So sharing and respecting each other will become a solution for me and it is effective. I told my boy already that one day he will become my successor of my magic collection, but he needs to understand it step by step. He got my point. But the most important point for me, how much we love our kid(s) or family comparing to our toys, this will define what kind of parent we really are. We can buy toys with our money, but we cannot buy love and the beautiful moments.

Below are some nice magic moments and quality time with Shannon and Wayne playing with Koornwinder and reading pop up book

Cheers,
Victor

[VictorS]

Mark Wilson is one of the greatest legend in magic who inspired me a lot. Looking back again from his classic book of magic : Mark Wilson`s Complete Course in Magic, Mark showed a great moment with Mike (his 4 year old son at that time) by introducing some magic props and also involve him with a great floating illusion. What a beautiful moment. I own the book when I was 16 years old and the picture inspired me a lot and become my wish at the day I saw the pics. Slowly my wish become true

[SimonC]

That's so cute victor, I can't wait til Ruben is old enough to be my assistant

[kellebotond]

Thanks Victor for sharing your way of doing this. My magic closet is not locked at all. I keep my props in boxes and suitcases inside, so theoretically it is possible for my kids to open it up. (I keep some used cards and old magic boxes at the lower shelves and I keep my Tenyo staff and the most valuable props at the higher shelves - even I have to stand on a chair to reach them). I haven't realised until now but I am doing a similar thing to you Victor. I tell them that these are needed for my work and they are not allowed to touch them. Sometimes they open up the door and have a look inside but they never caused any damage so far. Usually they tell each other that they are not allowed to do this and force each other to close the door. I think that this works partially because what you said: I also respect their toy containers. And the other thing: they realised that these things only work when I'm handling them. They are not that interesting in their hands.

[Elliot W.]

When I first started buying Tenyo I let my kids play with them all the time. I was really just buying them to play with and didn't realize how collectable they were. Needless to say a couple of items broke and I found out that they were not so easy to get anymore. They are now in a cabinet and I only let them play with them when I am supervising. They understand especially when I tell them how much it would cost to get a new one.
Anyway my wife has more of a challenge. She has a dollhouse collection. We have these dollhouses all around our house with lots of little furniture and accessories, many of which my wife hand makes. My kids grew up knowing that these particular dollhouses are for looking at only. (My daughter has her own for playing with). It gets more complicated when they have friends over as some of them just can't resist playing with them.
They got used to it eventually but every once in a while my wife will find that the dollhouse residents have some some remodeling.

That's so cute victor, I can't wait til Ruben is old enough to be my assistant

My oldest son is actually better than me in magic. He has a knack for slight of hand and he could do tricks that I could never get the hang of. He started doing magic at family parties or school and such and had down a pretty good ambitious card and cups and balls routine. Alas, he eventually lost some of his interest in magic and is mostly busy with other things now. Although he'll still do some tricks for guests upon request.