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OMG! -.-"
Child:
"I want that car!"
Mom:
"No. You have many toys at home already."
Child:
"I want!!!"
Dad:
"OK, OK. Daddy buy for you later."
Mom:
"No means no! You don't spoil him."
Child started to cry.
Grandpa:
"Aiyoh, simi lah. He wants, just buy for him lah."
Mom:
"Pa, no lah. He has many toys at home already."
Child sat on the floor, kicking his legs, his cries grew louder.
Grandpa:
"Aiyoh! See lah! Now like that! Come, Ah Boy, don't cry liao. Ah Gong bring you go next door and buy the car."
Crying ceased abruptly. Boy smiling happily took his grandpa's hand and skipped out of the restaurant.
Mom:
"URGH!!! I really hate it. Your father is always interfering with the way I bring up our kid."
Dad:
"Er... Dear, let's order the BBQ pork ribs. You like it, right?"
Sigh...
The mother probably felt angry having her authority undermined.
However, I would worry more about how the kid would grow up thinking that whatever he wants, he only needs to ask for it. If he doesn't get it, just throw a tantrum and increase his chances. Simple!
A strong feeling of entitlement?
You think so?
I think so too.
Now, it is a toy car. When he becomes a young adult, what then? A Mercedes Benz?
"We are seeing more kids bringing their parents to the showroom to book a CLA-Class or A-Class," said a senior executive at Mercedes Benz.
See: First time car buyer? Get a Mercedes Benz.
Genies in magic lamps are supposed to be immortal. However, human beings are not.
Don't be a genie to your children or grandchildren. You are not doing them a favour acting like one.
Related posts:
1. Your children will become what you are.
2. How to have children and retire comfortably?
3. Make CPF a part of your child's savings plan.
4. Teaching young children financial literacy.
5. At what age to start investing?
Bloggy Award
10 comments:
My parents are complete opposite :/
Whenever I earned my scholarship (in uni days)/my monthly paycheck now, they would demand 30% from me..
When I insist not to pay 30%, they threw a tantrum at me.. :/
Hi Nicole,
I have another blog post on this somewhere. Ah, here it is:
What is our attitude towards having children?
You are a good daughter. :)
Nicole, you're a good daughter.....
I also earned many years later and save up for my uni school fees. It was tough back then since my parents can't afford my future education after my 'O' level.
Now as a married daughter at 50 years old, I continued to pay for their expenses. I'm glad that I have a good and understanding husband who supported my decision. Nevertheless, I am very strict to my children expenses. I always educate them that money is not from the sky, you must earn it before spending. Somehow, I noted that children nowadays has no 危机感, they think 今朝有酒今朝醉。
Honestly, I don't count on my children for the same support that I have given to my parents ....... I will be glad if they don't ask money from me or I need to support them after their marriage.
I shared on FB:
Reader:
"Your blog post on genie and children is like sour grapes. I think if we can afford to give our children a better life, why not? I know you didn't have it easy but .... You don't have children. You don't know."
------
AK:
"Your children are lucky and I hope you are lucky too."
"For those who have ample resources which can never be exhausted, being idealistic doesn't hurt. For those who are not in possession of such resources, it is better to be pragmatic than idealistic."
Life was difficult...
It's the YOLO effect at play, propounded by the banks too
Hi TT,
The YOLO philosophy is good for the banks. Since I am a DBS shareholder, maybe I should stop blogging about the importance of saving money and investing for income. ;p
Reader:
> Hi AK,
>
> Thanks for your reply. Yes, I’m busy catching up on your old posts
> to improve my financial literacy. Schools should consider making
> basic financial education classes compulsory, just like those random
> classes such as home econs/design & tech/art & music that they make
> us go through in secondary school. It would probably be more useful &
> practical.
My reply:
Hi KL,
Yes, financial literacy would be a good addition to our national education system. In today's world, not being financially savvy is a big disadvantage.
(Something like what I witnessed in this blog could have been avoided.)
The following is extracted from Workforce SG facebook:
"My retrenchment was a huge blow to me. I didn’t see it coming at all.
The first few days after the news, I woke up in cold sweat. I thought it was just a bad dream. After all, I was 48 years old then and I had been in the marine and offshore industry for over 20 years. I have three children, the youngest is eight years old. I couldn’t afford to be jobless...."
Fortunately, the person found a job eventually. Frankly, in a future world of disruption and uncertainties, in my view, it is better to keep family size small and not to have children too late. Coz in your later years, chance of getting retrenched is higher and getting a job is tougher. Unless one is wise enough to save up aggressively in his 20s or early 30s.
Hi betta man,
In a world where job security is almost non-existent, unless we are born with a spoon made of some precious metal in our mouth, saving money aggressively when we are able to is a sensible thing to do.
Reader says...
So sad that horror stories like that happens.
Maybe good idea to never let your kids know how much money you have! Or better still, hopefully can teach them the value of hard work, frugality and independence from young.
Blogger AK says...
We can only do what we feel is right and hope for the best results. :)
However, the way I see many families coddling their kids these days, I think they might be in for a tsunami of problems in future. -.-"
Whatever happened to the cane? Yes, the cane.
I know. Bad AK! Bad AK! ;p
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