Daddy, I Broke the TV

March 09, 2011, By 6 comments

Daddy, I Broke the TV

A 50” 3-D Plasma TV will not survive a swing from a Lego wand wielded by a preschooler. How do I know? My son killed one this weekend, less than 5 minutes after I had pulled it from the box and plugged it in.

In my other life, I also do tech reviews for a major Canadian retailer. That means test driving some pretty excellent gear. With a major hockey game to be broadcast in 3D, Panasonic offered me a test unit to have the boys over and experience sports in true, wonderful 3-D.

I had just plugged it in and invited the family to the basement when my son walked over to it, swung a lego wand and screamed “I don’t like this TV!” The screen cracked and went black. The only life remaining was a blinking red light on the bottom of the unit. A small warning that things were tragic.

What happened next was a true test of parenting. A test I failed. I erupted in a stream of scolds. It was embarrassing.

My wife stepped in and mediated until I could regain myself. Minutes later I was by his bedside talking to him about what I did and what he did.

Surprisingly, my wife owned the sudden switch in our son’s behavior saying it was because she was watching Oprah. There was an episode about a four-year-old diagnosed with bi-polar disorder that featured him throwing things around the house, yelling at his mom and, generally, being a terror. My wife caught only a few minutes of it, but then talked with our son about how the boy on TV was naughty and that’s not how good boys act.

Page 1 of 2

Comments (6):

Becky W. My 3 1/2 week old 50in plasma was just killed by a lego that flew off the end of whatever creation my 4 year old had made. He didn't even throw it with force he was swinging the thing around a Lego flew off the end and into the t.v. It made the smallest little crack but there is no picture at all now just sound :( We did pretty good actually not flipping out because it was an accident, but I was (and still am) crying on the inside! - 03/15/2011
Sammy S. You reacted just as any other person would have. You screamed at him, you did not physically abuse the kid. The kid hit the tv stating that he did not like it. Even though he is young, he is old enough to know that you do not break things because you do not like them. Kids have to learn results of their actions and they are not old enough to really be reasoned with. It is better that he sees controlled anger with you then to be on the receiving end of another angry child's fist. - 03/12/2011
Trevor E. Garnish his allowance for 20 years. Lay down the law! - 03/10/2011
Jeff P.
Jeff P. I wish I could say I would react differently, but I think my first reaction would have been the same. But I know I would eventually calm down and explained what proper behavior is. - 03/09/2011
Lindsay D. (I would like to see Provinces added to your mandatory "State" drop down menu.) If you're not a yeller.... sometimes you raise your voice about something and it surprises them. It shocks them. And with certain things (ie: if you're mostly broke and you've saved up to be able to afford that nice TV like our family would have to) if you raise your voice.... it gets the point across. Of course it's not nice to yell at your kid and be upset.. but.. uh.. breaking that tv set is unacceptable, material goods or not.. Needs to be addressed. I think it's IMPERATIVE that kids be spoken to later about these types of things when everyone has calmed down, but it's not the worst thing for them to see your true, raw reaction to this kind of thing. We have a sound system. It's the only thing, really, that we have that's worth a hill of beans. But she knows darned well she better not go in the glass case where it sits. yes, she's my daughter, and I love her more than the sound system. I would love her even after the sound system.... but man would we be mad if she trashed that thing. Great, thought provoking post. - 03/09/2011
Buzz B. Update: The manufacturer covered half of the damage, my insurance covered half of my half. I ended up on the hook for $500. - 03/09/2011

© 2012 Man of the House, Barefoot Proximity, P&G Productions