I recently read a poll, conducted by CNN and Time, that said two-thirds of American parents think that their kiddos are spoiled. The reality is that we live in a world where most kids have cell phones, 10 pairs of $20 Nike Elite socks, iPods, iPads, PlayStations, in room TV’s, Six Flags passes, maids (that would be you mom and dad), $250 a month athletic leagues, toddler Escalades, Leap Pad Explorers and 10,000 Beanie Babies!!?! (yeah, Beanie Babies are a bit old skool)
The one and only Dr. Phil says that “indulgence is one of the most insidious forms of child abuse.”
Can I get an amen? Preach it Dr. Phil sporting your cul-de-sac hair do.
So here are 10 signs your kids are spoiled rotten…
- Your kids put in less than 1 hour a week helping around the house
- Your daughter frequently complains that she is bored and will not play on her own
- Your kids continually interrupt when you are on the phone are talking to others
- Consistently obeys his parents after the 4th time
- Expects to always go out to eat
- They expect you to buy at least $300 worth of back to school clothes
- They walk in selfishness and rarely say thank you
- Your son has to be asked and begged to do simple house hold chores
- Your kids are unemployed
- Your son throws tantrums, disobeys, cops an attitude, disrespects you in public and wont share his Fun-Dip with other kids
Does any of these signs sound familiar? If so, here are 10 ways to reverse the spoiled curse in your kids…
- SAY NO INSTEAD OF YES: Prepare your kids for the real world. In the real world you NEVER get whatever you want.
- RE-DEFINE SUCCESS: Teach your kids success is not what you drive, wear or how many Facebook friends you have.
- MAKE THEM FREAKIN WORK: Read my 14 year old son’s post on working. ACCEPTABLE CHILD ABUSE
- PAY THE PIPER: Make them pay their own iPhone data plan or cell phone service. My son does!
- MOW A YARD: Have your son serve a neighbor by mowing, baking cookies or raking leaves.
- DETHRONE THE KING OR QUEEN: Stop continually giving them praise and making them the star of the show.
- UN-SPOIL YOU: Your kids may be selfish because YOU are selfish.
- GIVE STUFF AWAY: Have your kids go through their stuff and give some of the good stuff away.
- STOP SAYING “I”: Make your kids go the entire day without saying “I”. This one is nearly impossible.
- BORE YOUR KIDS: Yep, believe it or not you don’t have to be your kids recreation director. I have learned that when I intentionally bore my kids…innovation and creativity is born! Read this post called BORE YOUR KIDS.
Have you spoiled your kids? Name 1 thing you can do today to STOP spoiling your kids.
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Oh no my chidlren display one of these traits – possibly two. I cant say I spoil my children well not in my eyes but then I guess all parents say that! However they do many of the things you list in the second half of the post too.
We are walking through some of this as well Naomi…
I read this list to my 8 (soon to be 9) year old daughter….her jaw hit the floor. (I laughed a little)!!
She just got back home with me after spending 2 years with grandma and grandpa. (long story). But I learned a lot while she was with them. I have a lot of un-doing to do. She doesn’t like it much. But I need get her less “I” centered…..life does NOT revolve around her.
Thank you for this post. I LOVE it and and am sharing it!!
Julie
Excited your kiddos are back home Julie!
So you get amen, can I get an ouch!?! I thinks it’s time to clean out the kids rooms. They have more than they know how to play with anyway…
clean it out and give it away!! this will teach your kids some serious missional living!
Challenging post! Is it possible to have extremely blessed, extremely thankful, extremely generous, extremely obedient kids?!! That’s our dream… and goal:-)) Are we crazy?!!
aim high! believe big Amy!
This is a ridiculous generalization, as an adult I’m even offended, and even scrolling down and seeing “Acceptable child abuse” was a big spark aswell.
There’s no acceptable form of abuse.
Trying to make them go an entire day without saying “I”? What?
That’s kind of weird, it doesn’t really make any sense.
What if they say “I am in pain!”, they can’t say that? So while they might have appendicitis you think they’re being spoiled?
This entire post is ridiculous.
Here’s an idea for a post though…
How come when a teenager expresses their opinion, people think they’re spoiled and basically give them the finger and assume they’re a stereotypical rebellious teen?