How to Deal With a Pokemon Addict

As every parent knows, once a boy hits the age of six or seven, he's likely to become hooked on Pokemon-those adorable Japanese trading cards featuring imaginatively named critters (for some reason, girls seem to be largely immune to this phenomenon). Since a full-fledged Pokemon jones can drain your bank account faster than an adjustable-rate mortgage, it's important to know how to deal with this habit head on.

Instructions

    • 1

      Set limits. There's so much Pokemon merchandise nowadays-cards, clothes, toys, bedspreads-that being an adult collector (much less a pint-sized fan) is a full-time job. Tell your son that you'll indulge him in one, and only one, product line-so if you agree to buy him cards, he'll have to get his Pokemon figurines from his Grandma (or pay for them out of his own allowance).

    • 2

      Set up a "Poke-Allowance." Speaking of allowances, one way for a kid to truly learn the value of a limited-edition Pikachu backpack is to make him pay for it out of his own savings. Instead of buying your son Pokemon cards (or toys, or bedspreads), give him a few dollars a week to spend on the Pokemon merchandise of his choice. (And "a few" means two or three dollars, not a C-note.)

    • 3

      Don't yield to the pressure. One secret of the Pokemon craze is that it's equal parts fun and competition-not only do kids like playing with funny-looking cartoon characters, but they try to outdo each other by amassing huge collections or buying hard-to-find items. If your son whines that all his friends at school have the newest Pokemon for Game Boy, a sympathetic "Gee, that's tough" may be your best option.

    • 4

      Ration his TV time. Although, technically, manufacturers are no longer allowed to design entire kid's TV shows with the express purpose of selling toys, this oft-ignored rule hasn't affected the Pokemon franchise. If your kid gets especially whiny and needy every time he watches a Pokemon cartoon, don't let him watch Pokemon cartoons (you probably shouldn't let him watch Pokemon cartoons anyway, since they're really half-hour-long commercials).

    • 5

      Pray he doesn't graduate to the hard stuff. Now that enterprising adults have figured out a way to get kids hooked on trading cards (and their associated merchandise), the danger doesn't end when your son outgrows Pokemon. Next around the bend is Yu-Gi-Oh, which is best described as Pokemon for the tween set. Now's the time to insist that your son buy his own Yu-Gi-Oh merchandise, because you're not going to, ever, for as long as you live.

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