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The best $4 ever spent

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Re: The best $4 ever spent

#111

Post by rahimnathwani »

stephen_cagle wrote: post #42

This sort of content feels good in the immediacy but ultimately lessens the quality of hn. I'm not concerned about this post specifically, but I feel that we should be more critical of things like this making it onto hn. I come to hn to mostly hear about tech, tech advances, startups, etc. I don't come here to read feel good (and admittedly, very cute) stories. They have their place, but I feel that place is not hn.

The article spurred a bunch of interesting comments. The comments are why I come to HN.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#112

Post by black_puppydog »

diego_sandoval wrote: post #108
timzaman wrote: post #102

Premise of article is wrong. Kids do get excited about the same things as adults; novel and intriguing things within reach. These things just aren't exciting any more to adults. That's the only difference. An adult that's never been on a train, but never could, or was never allowed, will find it exciting too.

I'm still excited about flying on a plane even though I've done it dozens of times.

The planes are okay... But the airports... omg they suck so hard.

Trains and train stations on the other hand, even though I use them so regularly, are still super nice. I wouldn't say "exciting" but very nice.

That's why I'm so angry that the French government and railway company keep making trains and stations more and more like airports and airplanes.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#113

Post by ilaksh »

I guess I am a little cynical, but one alternative interpretation of this article is that five year olds can be quite difficult, and it is very tempting to just waste 4 hours to avoid dealing with a temper tantrum.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#114

Post by larrybolt »

If you're a bit stable yourself (& used to skateboard yourself), try long-boarding (4 year old in front of you with plenty of protection, there's enough space on a standard longboard to fit an adult & child).

Or biking them in a bicycle trailer to the store/school.

Surfing is one I'm looking forward to myself, I've never done it either myself!

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#115

Post by syncsynchalt »

atoav wrote: post #32
aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

My little brother once got a bicycle for christmas. He played the whole evening with the cardboard box it was in.

I should think a combination transmogrifier/duplicator would be more fun than a boring bicycle, sure.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#117

Post by jldugger »

atoav wrote: post #32
aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

My little brother once got a bicycle for christmas. He played the whole evening with the cardboard box it was in.

At least where I grew up, biking on christmas day was a miserable recipe.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#118

Post by Loughla »

black_puppydog wrote: post #112
diego_sandoval wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still excited about flying on a plane even though I've done it dozens of times.

The planes are okay... But the airports... omg they suck so hard. Trains and train stations on the other hand, even though I use them so regularly, are still super nice. I wouldn't say "exciting" but very nice. That's why I'm so angry that the French government and railway company keep making trains and stations more and more like airports and airplanes.

I love airports. The people watching there is just phenomenal. I always get to my flight like 4 hours ahead of time just to sit in the busy concourse and watch the people. They're fascinating.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#119

Post by Loughla »

millzlane wrote: post #49
j7ake wrote: post #26

The issue is you don’t know which of the 0-5 dollar products to spend that will make them excited. A strategy is therefore to buy lots of cheap stuff and experiences, and let the kids have the option to choose. Then throw away the stuff they don’t care for. If you buy expensive things, you tend to try to force that thing onto the kid, which can be counter productive.

Pen and paper are my go-to. Throw in a "wow that's beautiful!" And they will draw all day.

We took a trip to North Carolina with our at the time 5 year old. The only things we took for entertainment was one of those pens with 4 different inks and a pad of paper.

Kept him occupied for the 16 hours.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#120

Post by junar »

black_puppydog wrote: post #112
diego_sandoval wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still excited about flying on a plane even though I've done it dozens of times.

The planes are okay... But the airports... omg they suck so hard. Trains and train stations on the other hand, even though I use them so regularly, are still super nice. I wouldn't say "exciting" but very nice. That's why I'm so angry that the French government and railway company keep making trains and stations more and more like airports and airplanes.

It's interesting to compare a European perspective with an American one.

In the US, the train stations I've seen range from unremarkable to downright filthy. The one station I found interesting was New York Penn Station, which I would favorably rate as on par with an average airport.

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