VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (KNN) – A newly released study from the Department of Parenting suggests a local four-year-old has taken total control of around 80 percent of the family’s home.
This comes as DOP officials suggest four-year-old Alex Essex has ‘Spoiled Only Child,’ or SOC issues.
Officials decided to conduct the study after Alex reportedly demanded to place his Cozy Coop car in his parents’ bedroom.
“We decided to break it down room by room, as it stands, the room with the most parental control remains the main bedroom, with 90 percent remaining for parents,” DOP Co-parent Chris Essex told KNN.
The family’s home consists of three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a large laundry/utility area, DOP officials said.
“Alex has 100 percent control of two bedrooms. One is his actual bedroom, the other is his engine room,” Chris said.
DOP officials released the full break down.
DINING ROOM: Learning, bookshelf…including crayons, crafts, books, and educational workbooks. DOP officials say this room often has toys, but they are returned at the end of the day.
LIVING ROOM: A toy box, LEGO table, and other various toys
BATHROOM: Largely remain neutral, minus the bathtub area, which is packed with bath friendly toys.
UTILITY ROOM: With the washer and drier and litter box, parents store crafting items Alex can not have immediate access too, like paints, slime, and magic sand.
KITCHEN: Parents store a compressive amount of Play-Doh items on top of the fridge, printing station for Alex.
Officials say they’ve started the process of trying to consolidate, but they aren’t entirely sure where to start.
“We could potentially move the LEGO table to the train room…but I don’t know. That room is already packed, so is his bedroom,” Chris said.
The DOP suggests more targeted spoiling moving ahead, like buying items Alex will play with more often.
“We actually tell him no at the store…a lot. But then after he goes to bed, we buy it on Amazon. It is on us, not him,” DOP Co-Parent Ami Essex said. “We are trying to do better.”
Parents say they started shifting resources to Transformer toys for a short time, but Alex quickly fell out of like with those, shifting right back to Thomas the Train.
“It’s always been Thomas. He will take a break from Thomas…and then go right back. We’ve been on Thomas for a while now…so we are focusing our resources there for the time being,” Ami said.
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