Teach Your Children To Appreciate What They Have

When we ourselves were short of something in our youth, experienced a certain lack, it is often the case that we want to do everything we can to prevent this from happening for our own children. Because of this, we sometimes make the mistake of giving our children too much, too many presents, ‘so that they lack nothing ‘. Rather, we need to help our children understand the ephemeral value of material things and the value of what they have versus the value of what they want.

Maybe we’re having a nice day shopping and we walk into a store where we then buy a present for our child. Excitedly we take the present home (sometimes parents are even happier when they see the surprise on their child’s face than the child is when he receives his present) only to find that our happy son or daughter is not even aware of the importance of the gift.

He remains completely focused on what he was doing, probably something on his cell phone, tablet or computer. Maybe this makes us a little disappointed at first and maybe even sad. We’ve worked hard to make sure we can give our kids everything and apparently our kids don’t even know how to appreciate these things.

Sure, they have a room full of stuff to play with (although they hardly actually do this), making it hard for them to pay attention to anything new or be thankful when they get something. It’s up to us, as adults, to help our children see the sacrifices they’ve made and make sure they “deserve” the things they get.

This does not mean that they should start looking for a job at a young age, but that they should learn that nothing in life just falls from the sky, except the rain. And that it takes effort to get the things they want. This may seem harsh to a child who is still in school, but we are doing our children a great favor by making sure they internalize this concept.

Often we don’t even realize that our children get all kinds of things without showing any interest in where it all comes from, how much effort it took to earn the money to pay for these things at all, how exactly it ends up in their hands. has come etc.

Even if we’re financially stuck, there’s no need to get our kids used to getting anything they want. We can never know whether we will suddenly have a setback and whether our financial situation will still be the same in the future. If this happens, how can we teach our children to understand that we might like to, but we are no new toys, video or telephone before they can buy?

How we can teach our children to appreciate what they have

To make sure your little ones are aware of the cost of certain things (not in the sense of money, but in the sense of effort or prioritization) and to make sure To make sure they don’t become machines that ask for something new every day, it’s wise to remember the following:

Give your children responsibilities in the household

From the age of three, children can already contribute to household chores and take part of the responsibility, however small this part may be. Of course, you don’t give them the first responsibility to clear the glasses or clean the windows, but maybe you can teach them to take their clean clothes to their room, for example.

Little by little you can give them more and more tasks that are appropriate for their age as they develop. However, be careful. The best way to support this kind of behavior is not to reward your child with material items, but rather with words and special recognition that will make them proud of themselves.

Don’t buy them everything they ask for

TV commercials aimed at children are intended to give children the impression that they want what they see on TV for themselves. In fact, toys are portrayed in commercials as things they can enjoy endlessly. If you really want to give your kids something they want, then it’s best to wait a bit in the first place instead of buying it right away.

Please take your time before implementing their request. Make sure it’s something they really want and not just ask for it because they just saw a commercial for it on TV or because their friends at school have it too. Don’t try to convey your love to your children by buying them anything they want. Show your love through attention and affection.

Set a budget

When our children get a little older and are able to understand prices and the concept of money, we can talk to them about what the things they ask for actually cost. Let your kids help determine what’s important to buy and if they can (and they deserve it) give them a little pocket money so they can get used to managing their own limited account.

Finally, try not to fall into the trap of wanting to be able to say that your child is not short of anything. Money and presents are not the things that give us love and happiness. Remember that when there is too much of one thing, often something else is missing. Something we have too much of cannot take the place of something we don’t have at all.