What’s Wrong With Our Country
With all the Christmas gift-giving past, and people moving back into regular normal life, there comes the inevitable whining from some of our populace about what they didn’t get for Christmas that they asked for. WARNING: The link contains salty language, don’t go there if you are offended. I’ll give you a recap of what is posted at the link:
- I didn’t get an iPhone
- I didn’t get an iPad
- I got a car but didn’t get an iPhone
- I didn’t get a car AGAIN for Christmas but I got a MacBook Pro
- I didn’t get a car
- I wanted a WHITE iPhone, not a BLACK iPhone
- I got a stupid Kindle Fire, I wanted an iPad. I’m going to take the stupid Kindle Fire back and get an iPad
And it went on and on, along with cursing at their mothers (not their fathers), because they didn’t get what they wanted.
I’m Santa in my house, for the most part. This is my burden to bear because I have the job with the biggest salary and thus the biggest amount of disposable income. It has always been this way, through both of my marriages. This year things were a little more even in years past, but in general, Santa is my job, and that’s fine. I work hard for what I earn, I make sure we have a roof over our heads, medical insurance, car insurance, food in the fridge/pantry, and toilet paper in the bathroom. It’s my job. And if my kids get things they need instead of things they want for Christmas, I feel I’m doing the right thing. That doesn’t mean they don’t get things they want, they do. Sometimes they get things they didn’t even want. But having been raised in a fiscally conservative household, and living a fiscally conservative life, I keep the whole Santa expectation at a conservative level. If my teenager wants a fancy cell phone, or a car, she’s going to pay for it herself, the same way I pay for things that I really want but don’t desperately need. I learned young how much more I appreciate things I had to pay for. 
These kids who are complaining, complete with curse words and the ever-popular “FML” have no idea how good they have it. They have a house to live in and presumably food to eat and activities to attend and free schooling and probably a cell phone and gaming system and laptop and Internet in their homes. They are complaining because their parents wouldn’t spring for a $500 iPhone? Really?
I doubt seriously that my parents went into debt to buy us our Christmas presents every year. I know for a fact that my father buys almost nothing on credit. If he doesn’t have cash, it doesn’t get bought. I’ve lived by this motto myself for about ten years; if I can’t afford to buy it outright then I don’t need it. Much of our country is struggling because people were living on credit, well outside their means, to get their kids all the “cool” things kids ask for. To buy them cars and iPhones and computers and designer clothes means going into debt to do so. At some point, that system of living outside one’s means catches up to you, and that is what has happened. What HASN’T happened is some frank discussions from these parents to their kids, outlining the reality of the situation, and putting an emphasis of working for what you want and not expecting what you didn’t earn.
My kids are learning these lessons from day one, as much as possible. They may get some breaks (my daughter is buying her car from her grandmother on ridiculously low payments, and I pay for cell phone service but not phones), but they are learning that Mom and Dad aren’t made of money, and that even if we were, they are still going to get sweaters and socks for Christmas along with a few of the toys and gadgets they want but don’t need. If more kids were given these expectations, I think our future would look a lot brighter.
And instead of hearing “FML” from these entitled little angels, maybe we’d hear “LML” instead. It’s sure what I would like to hear!
