Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Spoiled Children...Rotten Adults

Every parent wants their child to have all the things they were not afforded. A parent who was never taken to the circus will make a conscious effort to bring the child every year. One whose parents never involved them in extra-curriculars may grow up to be the parent whose (over-committed) child has to consult a calender just to figure out what is on each day's agenda.


It is not abnormal to want to give your child the things your childhood lacked. But what if it were material things? Do you scramble to buy your kid Jordan's because you remember being made fun of for wearing BoBo's (yeah "BoBo's...they cost $1.99, BoBo's the make your feet feel fine"...don't act like you don't remember that). Everyone else had Atari but your parents said no. Does that mean you buy Jr. every Xbox, Nintendo DS, Playstation, model on the market?


Where does it stop?


It doesn't. The child becomes an adult who has distorted view of the world. They have an illogical sense of entitlement. It's the woman who I falls in love with a dress in the store and becomes enraged when they don't have her size. The high school student who loses interest in college applications after getting a low SAT score. The man in your office who becomes disoriented when he starts a project and it does not go exactly according to plan. The girl who is discouraged from trying something a second time when she was no good at it the first. The list goes on and on. And no... one does not necessarily lead to another but there is a distinct relationship.



Material possessions last for a short period of time, but character is forever.

1 comment:

Ms. S said...

I had a hard time looking at the picture. Reminded me of one of those puzzles where you have to find hidden items in teh drawing... like that cat.

But is being spoiled rotten at a young age really the problem? What about those who grew up with not much and never could afford anything... and now always spends money on the most frivilous things to over compensate. I'm writing an autobiography.