When a child's Christmas Furby turns nasty, where do you send it for rehab?

IT was a Christmas delight turned nightmare. A cute, cuddly robotic toy-come-pet Furby. It was cheeky. Adorable. A little demanding. So why did it suddenly turn nasty?

The Furby Boom! ... Something of a split-personality?

IT was a Christmas delight turned nightmare. Our daughter adored the cute, cuddly robotic toy-come-pet Furby. It was cheeky. Adorable. A little demanding. So why did it suddenly turn nasty?

The latest addition to a long evolutionary line of animatronic Furby toys from Hasbro - the Furby Boom - landed under the Christmas tree on Boxing Day at our extended clan's traditional gathering.

It was a surprise.

It was an immediate hit.

Our four-year-old daughter (almost five!) embraced it with all the enthusiasm and delight one would normally associate with a puppy or a kitten.

Nevermind that the recommendation on the box said six-years and older. What doting uncle would ever read such fine print? What proud parent wouldn't think their kid was smart enough to handle it?

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She took it with her everywhere. She took it on a tour of the house. She explained her favourite things to it. She discussed her favourite topics with it.

All the while it would react. Make verbal quips. Wriggle. And demand more attention in its cutesy, high-pitched voice.

Then it came time to 'pair' it with the iPad.

On the surface it promised a fun and educational interactive experience. It needed to be groomed, toileted and fed. And then there were the eggs - and baby Furbies.

She named it Dee-doh.

It should have sounded a warning bell.

Remember Giz-mo?

I didn't. Not at first.

News_Image_File: More than a passing resemblance ... The cute "Gizmo" from the 1984 movie "Gremlins" with a selection of Furby Booms.

The 1984 movie Gremlins was something of a distant memory.

But not for long.

The Furby began to become even more demanding.

It would demand time with the iPad. It would demand to be fed. It would fart …

And the cycle seemed to get faster, and faster … It became a race to keep the fuzball happy.

Electronic attention-deficit disorder?

Soon our daughter tired of the relentless pressure and gave up.

Nevertheless, her cute animatronic pet never left her side. It went with her everywhere. It slept with her.

Then her dream toy turned into a nightmare.

On the drive home after a weekend road-trip with Dee-doh, during which the iPad was noticeably absent, the Furby's cute voice suddenly changed.

And so did its attitude.

Much to our daughter's startlement, it adopted a suddenly male voice with what we took to be an aggressive, raspy edge.

It became even more demanding. Curt. Almost nasty.

The gutter-talking Furby was being downright rude.

It became our own personal gremlin.

News_Image_File: Split personality. In the movie "Gremlins", the cute furry little critter could quickly turn into an evil beast.

Our daughter went strangely quiet. When we arrived home the Furby was dumped in a corner and ignored. She quickly went upstairs.

It did not sleep with her that night.

Concerned, we tried to find an explanation for the toy's sudden character change.

The packaging didn't say much. Nor did the manual.

Hasbro's website read:

• What if I don't like the personality that my Furby has become?

If you don't like the personality of your Furby, try treating it differently and see what personality develops.

Great.

On further reading we discovered it demanded up to five solid minutes of cuddling, feeding, stroking and play for a chance for it to return it to "sweet Furby" mode.

What did Dee-doh have to say about the matter?

"Tough".

Our daughter had already been doting on the damned thing. What more could it want?

We weren't going to mollycoddle the mechanical moron every night just to keep it in an appropriate mood for our daughter.

Nor did we want such an expensive toy - originally the clear-cut hit of our daughter's Christmas bounty - to just gather dust in the corner.

We hit the web.

We found forums filling with similar questions and complaints - most dated December 25 and later.

News_Image_File: Christmas surprise ... internet discussion forums are filling with questions about how to restore "gremlin" Furbies to their original, cute character.

It took a bit of digging, but eventually we found the answer.

Tucked away on a never-before-seen forum, some blessed - but equally annoyed - parent spilt the beans on Furby Boom!'s secret "hard reset" function.

- Tip it upside down

- Push in its tongue

- While holding in this position, pull its tail

- Maintain that poise for at least 10 seconds.

Eureka!

The old Dee-doh has returned.

It's back in our daughter's bed.

But we often catch her looking at it with a wary eye whenever it makes one of its frequent demands.

She's a little wiser now. A tad more cynical.

Just another of those little life-lessons that come all-too quickly to children in the eyes of their doting parents.

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