tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post1668614797755523295..comments2023-04-01T09:10:29.450-04:00Comments on Greenblogger: Span of Timethirtysomethinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564139651442295144noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-19987779613599211252007-08-16T18:02:00.000-04:002007-08-16T18:02:00.000-04:00I fully agree with you - they don't need all the s...I fully agree with you - they don't <I>need</I> all the stuff they think they need. In my opinion, if kids get everything they want, how on earth are they supposed to have dreams? We can compare this situation with the one of animals being fed by humans - those animals lose their survival instinct. I am convinced that it is the same with kids.<BR/><BR/>We make the same efforts as you <BR/>- our kids need to help in the household, both of them have chores, and both have to do it for free - the reason is the one you stated: we are a community, we all contribute to make a mess, we all have to help to clean up, as simple as that.<BR/>- our daughter received a cell phone on her 12th birthday due to the fact that she had to travel to the city to go to school. My soon to be 10 yr old will have to wait for that privilege until he's 12 as well.<BR/>- both kids have an allowance. If they want extravagant stuff, they have to pay it from that. If they can't afford it, they have to save money until they can. By then, a lot of times the wish to buy that particular item has subsides and it showes them that obviously it wasn't as important as they initially thought.blooming desertpeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03123794891431225612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-33338070647022688152007-08-16T16:30:00.000-04:002007-08-16T16:30:00.000-04:00joy of course--also a very interesting point. It c...joy of course--also a very interesting point. It could be said that we join our children's existence instead of the other way around--always rearranging and sacrificing everything for their sakes. There should be a happy medium in there somewhere.thirtysomethinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564139651442295144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-47579537279070858612007-08-16T09:27:00.000-04:002007-08-16T09:27:00.000-04:00It's hard. We are staying away from battery-opera...It's hard. We are staying away from battery-operated toys. My daughter doesn't even know what McDonald's is yet (though she's not yet 3) and we have a pact that we will only buy one gift at Christmas (to mark the occasion, rather than turn it into a feeding frenzy). I have doubts that I'll be able to keep her from having a cell phone once she's making her own way around the city, though -it could be a safety issue - but if that's the case, I'm making it a pay-as-you-go plan unless she's calling her parents...<BR/><BR/>It's tough, though. I think there are people who don't necessarily buy (pun intended) into all this stuff, but there's pressure from other parents and society at large to give your children "the best" (even if you disagree that those things are 'best'). I think it's similar to the way that we intend to be very open and honest about some issues with our daughter, even though I know it will be frowned upon by other parents. As much as we think of parenting in this society as an isolated task, it's still a village. A big, loud, voyeuristic village.<BR/><BR/>Interesting post, by the way! :)NotSoSagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04782162947524115936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-49474747718410188282007-08-16T00:46:00.000-04:002007-08-16T00:46:00.000-04:00I love those times when everything is so much simp...I love those times when everything is so much simple. When giving and receiving and being fair were valued.<BR/><BR/>What you wrote is all TRUE and I agree.mitzhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14271173732942518068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-81739708628525213592007-08-16T00:22:00.000-04:002007-08-16T00:22:00.000-04:00Those were the days and growing up in today's soci...Those were the days and growing up in today's society is much more stressful that our times. I have told you how I grew up in the rural town in Malaysia in my blog. Those days McDonald's was never heard of and McD never came to the town where I was raised. It still is a quaint little town but development is slowly catching up.AbbyBihahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06672895163049515092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-91261221758950347802007-08-15T21:18:00.000-04:002007-08-15T21:18:00.000-04:00You know what bothers me, (and this may be unpopul...You know what bothers me, (and this may be unpopular) the fact that we as parents are now expected to give up any free time we have toting frantically children to every activity under the sun in the name of their enrichment. Their social calendars are supposed to take priorty over ours. It seems to me that this is just teaching children that the entire world stops to revolve around them. When I was a child, I went with my parents to their social activites all weekend long, no the other way around. Isn't there a balance?Chaotic Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743049921159926147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-18836505730492246712007-08-15T16:07:00.000-04:002007-08-15T16:07:00.000-04:00SM--Oh! Yes, I forgot that one...great point! I do...SM--Oh! Yes, I forgot that one...great point! I do hte same thing, sometimes not even that many. I mean hell..they all are broken by the following week anyway, and if they aren't broken, the kids are "tired" of them already. <BR/>WTF indeed!thirtysomethinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564139651442295144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-40088420113816864602007-08-15T15:44:00.000-04:002007-08-15T15:44:00.000-04:00i think parents are a big part of this... they wan...i think parents are a big part of this... they want more, they want their kid to have more, and then it just escalates. We are trying very hard to not give in to that culture. If you don't buy your kid the thing he begs for at the store, he will realize that begging at the store gets him no where, and will stop begging. At least, that's my theory. It's working pretty well for us so far.painted maypolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06446625015003854710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-61292575838315683662007-08-15T15:25:00.000-04:002007-08-15T15:25:00.000-04:00Amen. Here's one: Xmas presents. I buy the kids...Amen. Here's one: Xmas presents. I buy the kids (umm, Santa buys the kids) seven or eight presents TOPS. A few others come from relatives.<BR/><BR/>We have friends and acquaintances who regularly buy 25 or more gifts for their kids at Xmas.<BR/><BR/>To that I say, WTF!Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05602868040771218507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266780894496098710.post-50097546600877110762007-08-15T15:05:00.000-04:002007-08-15T15:05:00.000-04:00I think people have been making this complaint for...I think people have been making this complaint for awhile. My parents used to tell me that when they were growing up, they had two outfits: one for Sunday, and the other for the rest of the week. (They also had to go to school, uphill in both directions.)Beahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15957626443087438904noreply@blogger.com