I’m obviously not a parent…

September 2, 2006 by annadulcekelly.

I say this because I don’t understand this whole thing about “giving the kids more than I had when I was growing up”.  In fact I think this tendency has led to the lack of appreciation by the kids of what they’re being given.  There’s also the resulting lack of creativity and imagination.  Kids who don’t get what they want all the time learn to make do with what’s there or pretend there’s something there when there isn’t.  They learn to improvise.  I know when I was growing up, when we played house, we didn’t have to have those little tea sets and little chairs and tables.  We didn’t even have to dress up.  We just said that we’re wearing this, this part of the driveway is our bedroom, this pile of leaves are veggies we bought from the market.  The balcony next door is the school.  Play money?  Heck no, we’ll just write the denominations on little pieces of paper…the best kind of money is the type you print out of your own home, LOL.  All this because we can’t afford those fancy toys.  I did get Barbie dolls but they were all gifts from my uncle in Cali, except for the first one which I bought with my own Christmas money.  Also there was such great appreciation for every little gift that comes our way.  Our toys mostly stayed intact and complete for the longest time.  I am thinking that I probably had a more comfortable life than my parents did.  That’s probably why I didn’t turn out quite as good as they did.

 See, all this making up for whatever you didn’t have during your childhood…it backfires in a big way.  You give your kids everything you can afford to give them (and sometimes more than that).  And what do you get in return?  A lot more argument, a lot more expectations, a lot less consideration.  So why even start doing that?  I mean, think about it.  If you turned out pretty fine, why mess with the formula?  I dare say, if you turned out fine, then it’s safe to say that was a tried and tested formula.  Use it.

 When was the last time you ever read your kids’ reports and projects?  I dare say that kids CANNOT write anymore.  I think 7th graders write at the 2nd grade level.  It’s pathetic.  Why is this?  Lack of creativity, lack of imagination.  Everything is presented to them on a silver platter, everything is spoonfed to them, why bother thinking about things?  Why bother thinking?

 I bet you never thought that giving your kids everything you can led to them being more stupid than you ever thought possible.  And you dare complain about this to other people…repeatedly.  And it just never occurred to you that maybe, just maybe you were too damn nice.  Heck, everyone is being too damn nice.  What, people had such a hard time in school before so we make it easy now?  Oh, the red X’s made people feel bad because they made mistakes and someone pointed it out to them, so now we can’t have red X’s on returned exams?  Oh, PLEASE.  And what’s with this whole excuse of not checking for grammatical and spelling errors because the teachers are supposedly concentrating on the content?  What content?  Nothing makes sense, the least you can do is teach them to spell correctly.  Surely there’s nothing wrong with teaching them something.

Kids are so spoiled rotten and no one seems to be able to figure out that this all came about because the generation before wants to make life easier for them.  Well, an easier life does not a better person make.

But then again, what do I know, I’m not a parent.  Right?

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