Entitlement

Do you get the Focus on the Family magazine, thriving family? There is a great article in the November/December 2009 issue titled, "Bucking the Entitlement Trend".

Here is the summary of the article:
It starts off discussing the fact that the author's son states that he is the only kid in his Middle School who does not have a cell phone. When she ask some of his friends, they all state that they have phones. She then ask how many pay for them. No one raises their hand.

It doesn't stop at a cell phone. They want their own computer or car. They want, want, want. They feel they are entitled to these items. When they enter the workforce, they expect the corner office, tons of off days, high salaries and respect of their elders.

We do our children no favors when we give in to their wants.

Yesterday after church, Mal wanted to go to the Guad because everyone else was going. Nevermind that we had to be in Gardendale by 2:00 because of a prior committment to 9 girls to help them out on the ball field next week. Being rushed all afternoon was not a good idea. So I told her no. Well, the "no" made her pout and made me very angry. I do not like the pouting when you do not get your way!

(Not to mention that I've been trying to save money on the food front and had just bought groceries on Friday afternoon. We have plenty of food in the house. Why go and spend $20 on one meal just because everyone else is doing it?)

Back to the entitlement article...

If we give in to our children now, they will grow up thinking this is how all adults should treat them. When they run into an unfriendly boss or have a conflict in their marriage, they will not know how to react.

So what do we do?

Teach our kids the value of hard work and money.

Let them develop confidence through adversity.

Promote and accurate view of self.

Cultivate the quality of empathy.

If you would like a copy of the article, I'll be happy to share! There is a lot more detail than I could cover here.