One woman has asked if she was wrong to sell tablets that her children were gifted for Christmas. Having made it clear to family members that she did not want her toddlers using electronic devices she was shocked when her Nana gifted her daughters an Amazon Fire tablets each.

So, I have two girl toddlers ages 2 & 3. Lots of people asked what to get them for Christmas.. I told everyone that they could get experience gifts (ex. Zoo trip, kids club tickets, kids museum, build a bear certificate, etc) or open-ended toys bc I want my kids to use their imagination & do pretend play. I SPECIFICALLY told everyone, absolutely no tablets or screens. My kids are allowed screen time, on our living room TV so I can monitor what is on it & how long they are watching. I don’t want IPad kids. No hate to any parents that do, but I just don’t want that. My Nana bought them Amazon Fire tablets

… as soon as my kids opened them, they were so excited about them & my fiancé & I just looked at each other in disbelief.. we SPECIFICALLY asked everyone to not do that. We didn’t want to cause a fuss at family Christmas, especially in front of our kids who were really excited so we didn’t say anything. We never opened them & eventually our kids forgot about them so I sold them. & now my Nana is asking why she never sees them playing with them & I just told her that we asked her not to buy them so we sold them online & bought something for the girls that we thought was more appropriate for their ages. Now she is LIVID bc she was so excited to see my girls play with them … I don’t know what else to say to her that I haven’t said to her already. 🤷🏻‍♀️

People were understandably in support of the woman’s decision to get rid of the gifts she had made clear she didn’t want her children using, and was well within her rights to purchase something more appropriate for the girls with the money.

NTA

I was totally prepared to say you were, but after reading the context you definitely are not.

You set a very clear boundary about what kinds of gifts were acceptable for your children, and she deliberately ignored that boundary, and then put you in a position where you were blindsided, and the kids had already opened the gifts. So you were forced into the position of either causing a scene, and ruining Christmas, or acting like it was fine.

You were 100% within your rights to sell the gifts to get something else for your children, and I would be telling Nana that if she is not prepared to respect the boundaries you set for your children as their parents, that she will no longer be getting invitations for family events. (Careless_League_9494)

Anyone who buys a healthy 2 or 3 year old a tablet, is just insane. No toddler NEEDS a tablet. NTA. (StoneAgePrue)

Whether her nana meant well or intentionally tried to undermine her parenting choices is unclear, but it certainly seems like an odd that she’s been that mad about the children not using them.

So excited to see kids stare at a tablet?!

NTA. You’re the parents. You set the boundaries. She stomped those boundaries. (Lorinabaninabanana)

Your nana might have meant well but she has zero right to be angry when she KNEW you didn’t want the kids playing with screens.

NTA. (HoshiJones)

One commenter questioned whether the mum should have kept hold of the tablets for occasional use.

My kids played on tablets, but they were reserved for things like long car rides and when grandpa had to babysit because he needed the break. You’re NTA, but there may be a time and place for the tablets. Either way, you are the parent, so make the call. (AlwaysGoToTheTruck)

What do you think? At what age should little ones be allowed to own a tablet? And under what circumstances should they be allowed to use them?