Comments for What are our children learning during these tough economic times? »
Posted By Newperson 11 months, 1 week ago in FamilyWhile we brood over the decreasing values of our homes, savings and 401Ks, we may not realize we have an audience. Our children are watching and taking notes for the future.
I wonder what they're learning.
It's important that we not be so preoccupied by our own flailing finances that we forget to teach our children how to manage theirs.
Whether we believe we are victims or co-creators of our present fiscal crisis, we must help our children understand it so they won't make the same mistakes. We might often feel powerless to face our own circumstances, but we must equip our children for what lies ahead
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greenmac11 months, 1 week ago
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Well my parents grew up during the depression and they learned to be very frugal. I can still remember straightening old bent nails for my fathers projects. Now things are different today....most kids want...not give. Will they be able to grasp the situation that they and their family are in and how will they cope with it....good question.
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GLee11 months, 1 week ago
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Greenmac, you just hit the 'nail on the head'. My 'old man' had me straitening out nails as well. Hadn't thought about that in who knows when.......??? I hope our kids know enough about what's going on to be able to apply some 'frugalness' down the road. We won't always be here for them.
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It is, in fact, a good question.-
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lvrofwolves11 months ago
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My Mother and Father in law grew up during the depression which I didn't know at the time or even really understand what depression life was like, they were very wealthy when I knew them. Yet..still, I went there one day for lunch, went to put mustard on my sandwich and this yellow WATER came pouring out. I was pretty young and was like WTF??? and thought what frugal people they were. These very wealthy people getting every last drop, the ketchup was like that as well.
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I guess sometimes people need to experience things for themselves, but they also need to know how things were and how they can become.
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RedRiverJ11 months, 1 week ago
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greenmac, you said it. Many kids, not all of them, but many are so self centered, so materialistic they do not question what any thing costs or who had to do what to buy it for them. Its all about cell phones, friends, ipods, boy/girlfriends, spacebook, instant this and that.
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I have a kid that sat down for Christmas dinner with a cell phone. Started texting his girl during dinner.
He no longer does that.-
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greenmac11 months, 1 week ago
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Yes RR there are some kids that believe the world revolves around them and their parents are a support system for their life style... the sad thing is ...there are parents who provide that service and sacrifice their own happiness to do it. I don't know which I would rather grab onto and shake some sense into...the parent or the kid.
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Eagle_Eye11 months, 1 week ago
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"Yes RR there are some kids that believe the world revolves around them and their parents are a support system for their life style.."
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BINGO,,and they are going to have a rude awakening real soon as dad and mom lose a job, lose a house, lose a lot....all because of "keeping up with the Jone's" of America families. What are these kids going to do when they don't have the luxuries any more? -
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lvrofwolves11 months ago
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Isn't that the truth greenmac!
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now there are some exceptions of course, at least in my opinion, like my parents took second jobs if we wanted to join band in school or wanted $ for some club, but we appreciated it and didn't expect it. Sure there were many things we wanted as kids and were told no, but you learn to deal with that and go on.
My parents worked VERY hard all their lives, they went from very poor class, starting at the bottom, no college and really struggling to middle class, and now they are enjoying their well deserved retirement. they go on trips and vacation a lot, they also help many charities and my Dad delivers for meals on wheels every week. My mom has said several times, I'm sorry there might not be a whole lot of $ left to give you kids when we die. I keep telling her, please do not make any sacrifices, enjoy your life and the hard work you did, if there's any left over I'll gladly take it, but not so gladly if I know you sacrificed even more for me as an adult. SPEND your own $ on your own needs. If I really needed help tho, they'd be there, and I really appreciate knowing that.-
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greenmac11 months ago
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My parents were the same way...putting away something for the kids. I told them to spend as well ... they didn't and I was surprised how much they had put away from not a very large income. They had a different mind set. I was once told that our grandparents set the stage for our parents to save and the next generation to blow.I believe there may be some truth in that statement.
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Charlson11 months, 1 week ago
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The generation of children growing up during these hard economic times will either become better than we were or they are doomed by our failures. Children had been learning to become takers without conscience and this process must be reversed if they are to survive and flourish.
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canadianrancher5711 months, 1 week ago
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I can remember how hard up we were while I was growing up and how money was sometimes a topic that I wished was not talked about. Everyone was aware how little money there was but it did not mean we could not have dreams about what life would be like with money. When I was sixteen life was better and I was given five hundred dollars for a years work and told that the money would have to last me for a year, within two months the money was gone and I was allowed to stay at home and miss all the fun that others were having. We can try and teach our kids about money but sometimes the lessons will be learned by them only by making a mistake. The toughest lesson is the one that is shared by both the parent and child and that is when we finally say that now you are on your own and I will not help you out for your wants and very few of your needs.
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canadianrancher5711 months, 1 week ago
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ONe thing that I miss, that I doubt if many families do today, is just sitting around as a family and saying what we would do if we had money. None of us seemed to really want to much and it seemed that we thought of the other members of our family in our dreams, there were always the things that we would get mom or dad to make things better or something like a family vacation. Funny when I sit here now thinking about it being hard up wasn't as bad as many things nowdays.
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Good story with many good comment as well.,
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4thchance11 months, 1 week ago
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Kids are learning that Mom and Dad better take on another job or get better paying jobs to support their lazy lame kids. Times are tough say the kids. Mom and Dad need to make more money for us. They live in the basement and want more and more from Ma and Pa. Meanwhile Ma and Pa are scrambling to figure out a way to buy their son Johnny that brand new Corvette that he has wanted since he was 35 years old. That's the reality of it these days!
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greenmac11 months, 1 week ago
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Not all kids are like that... though I have seen a few that fit the description you provided. A lot of times the parents are to blame for allowing the kids to sit home on their a$$. With the job situation as it exists right now I believe a lot of kids will take advantage of the situation and their parents.
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I see a lot of good kids out there...some of them going to school and holding more than one part time job to support themselves.-
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4thchance11 months, 1 week ago
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My post was a bit of a joke, but it's also true in many cases these days.
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You're right, there are some very hard working responsible kids these days, but from what I can gather, that is the exception not the rule. I'm 53 years old, when I was growing up, it was just the opposite. Most kids back then were hard working and responsible kids. That was back in the day we really didn't have many coming into our country to do the jobs we didn't want to do ourselves. I started working when I was 13 years old, during summer break. I use to work in the apple orchards of E. Washington State. And or I worked in the hay fields bucking bales, now that was hot dirty hard freaking work. Most kids these days would not or will not do that type of hard physical work. They want some high paying job in a nice air conditioned building some where. Or they will do nothing! Most would probably get fired even if they had that great job. They complain that work takes to much time away from their party time! Sad but true. We raising a bunch of lazy loafers.-
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greenmac11 months, 1 week ago
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I know what you mean .... now as a kid I was more of an explorer than a worker. My parents would take us to our old family cottage and there we would spend the summer making do with whatever we could find laying around to play with. I believe that it was during those times that I developed a "what if" type of mentality that I took forward into my life today... a bit of a dreamer...LOL . When I was working I saw a lot of summer students go through where I worked.... some were worthless but wanted top dollar. Others were worth more than we paid them. I see so many that want the "top" but are unwilling to climb the ladder to get there.
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flyonthewallzz11 months, 1 week ago
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Hey 4thchance:
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I can not help but say: that I too have worked apple orchards and hay fields.
A 4'x4'x3' bin of apples with a nice crown of prime apples paid $6 bucks in 1977.
The Jamaican pickers could get 10 a day, I got 5 on my best days.
A bale of hay is heavy and itchy, I needed both arms to throw it up to the trailer.
The guy next to me could wing them up with both his left and right arm alone.
Up until this year all the work I have done has been a "walk in the park" by comparison.
My kids bust their ass when they are at work, but man are they lazy when they get home.-
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4thchance11 months, 1 week ago
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Hey (flyonthewallzz),
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I'm happy to see there are others here that got a taste of apples and haying :-)
Yes, haying was a bugger of a job. 100+ heat, 60 pound bails...itchy scratchy, all day long....Boy am I ever glad those days are behind me. There's no way I could do that work any more. I'm to old and have a bad lower back. Now I make my living on the internet. I'll never get tired out punching keys!-
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flyonthewallzz11 months, 1 week ago
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I cleared brush and picked in Ohio.
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And then picked in upstate New York.
The thing that really got me was those wasps that made their nests in the apples.
I would get stung. and then the owner would dump my bin because the apples had finger bruises or I had not left the stems on.
It is quite a trick to roll the apples without finger tips and get them to the bucket 3 at a time without bruising. It always seemed that as soon as I got into the groove of it, I would get stung.
The orchard that I worked in had been an organic one and had not been pruned. We picked with 27' wooden ladders and a 2 bushel bucket strapped to our chest. There was a way of tying off the canvas so that the bucket could hold almost 3-1/2 bushels.
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lvrofwolves11 months ago
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sounds just like my Niece, 19 didn't graduate (the first in our whole family) she doesn't want to get a job because she thinks she's worth more them minimum wage, she doesn't help out at home because it's not her responsibility she says, she has no drivers license,she tries to bum $ from everyone, she refuses to move out etc.....now I think my Sis is almost entirely to blame for that kind of thinking because always in the end, the Niece gets exactly what she wants, if she has to cry about it for a few days, well...she'll do it. she actually thought her Mom should get a second job so she could have more spending $.
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My Sis booed me for charging room and board to my Son after he graduated, and started working a good job, AND he still had to help out around the house. Niece told my Son 'your Mom is lame' My Son said, and where are you??? a lazy bum, living off your Mom with no promising future. that made me feel proud!
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Albmore11 months, 1 week ago
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One thing I think is important is parents need to talk about finacial matters with thier kids. I also think personel finance should be a required subject in school. How many college students are already over thier head in credit card debt?
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Now as far as being lazy and spiled , well that has to be blamed on the parents. Sometimes love must be tough and that means saying NO setting bounries and enforcing rules. We want OUR kids to have a better life as OURS. Just like OUR paents wanted that for us. Somehow though a better life has been placed as a finacial goal and not a character goal. Just like OUR government we the families of the US need to go back to the basic. Morality, loyalty, truth.ect.-
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Eagle_Eye11 months, 1 week ago
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It is very hard to do considering the reality of today's media, basically it is they that has shaped society......I use to work in Advertising/Marketing and know the tricks used to sway the masses.....now I see what Madison Ave has done and it not good. But Parents have to be held accountable to.
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nostalgia11 months ago
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I saw that happening with my kids when they were younger (now 28 and 30)
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When they wanted something with a designer label, like jeans or sneakers, I would give them what I would normally pay for a pair and they had to come up with the rest
Many times the "designer name" was no longer as important when they had to spend their own money
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Radiofreeeuropa11 months, 1 week ago
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My relationship with those in my family who survived the great depression (sadly all gone now) was instrumental in the forming of my view of the world politically, economically, and particularly morally. I learned the lessons they taught well and can hope my own children have in some way absorbed them through generational osmosis and observation. I have never strayed from the path in my life, and at this rather late point doubt that I ever will. So nothing really changes in my house...except the degree of concern about ensuring bills are paid. My kids are hard workers, though yes, we made their lives easier than ours were in some areas, paying for their education (My Dad could not do that for me). But they generally have an appreciation for the value of things, take little for granted. I can't speak for others, only my own.
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4thchance11 months, 1 week ago
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I too had parents that went through the depression years. One thing I learned from my parents was, they did not ever throw anything away. I swear my mother would even keep the paper wrappers that cubes of butter came in. We may need those someday she would say. I'd ask her, what would you ever need those for, her response was. "You just never know"...This gave me a really good clue as to just how awful the depression years were for people. I did learn alot from my perants depression years experiences. Now I'm a very frugal person. I make good money, but it's hard for me to spend it, I save alot of it..."You just never know!"
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THANKS TO MY MON AND DAD :-)-
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flyonthewallzz11 months, 1 week ago
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4thchance11 months, 1 week ago
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Wow, you just joggled my memory. Now that you mention it. I do believe that is exactly what my mom used some of the butter wrappers for. To keep that old black/cast iron skillet nice and oily and stick free! That and my dad used them to start fires in our wood fire place!
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By the way. I USE CAST IRON SKILLETS TO THIS DAY! Let me tell you people who may not know about black iron for cooking. Hands down, they are the best. Once you've used them for awhile, they develop a fantastic stick free surface. The cost of them is very little. Years ago I did use stick free Teflon pans, even had some that cost alot of money. BUT, it takes only one time of over heating a Teflon pan and it's SHOT. They say, using Teflon may have heath hazards as well
With black iron, you can burn the crap out of them, and they just keep getting better! If you buy good quality black/cast iron cookware, you can hand it down to your children, and I'm not joking!-
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k9kssr11 months, 1 week ago
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Cast iron is what I prefer to cook in too, 4th. How can anyone fry chicken without a cast iron skillet, much less make a roux?
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I remember my mom talking about the depression years. They were a farm family of 7 kids (10 in my dad's family) and she said they always had enough to eat and everybody else they knew were as poor as they were, so they didn't know they were poor.
She said in the summer time they only wore shoes on Sunday when they went to church and went barefoot the rest of the time. They picked cotton and hoed corn fields to make money to buy school clothes. My parents were "cash only" types, and my dad is 83 and has never had a credit card in his life.
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4thchance11 months, 1 week ago
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WOW, this is really odd...I've posted here a few times now and no one has attacked me yet for posting my thoughts and what I beleive. Gee, I should ask, did the world end or something... something is out of order here!?
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Nice stories/comments and nice folks, good to see :-)-
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canadianrancher5711 months, 1 week ago
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I was going to atttack you when you brought up the topic of pitching hay bales , but it was a job that I feel built character. I wonder what would happen if the court system sent some of these young troublemakers out to pitch bales, a few days of that might give them alot of respect for other peoples contribution to society .
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Eagle_Eye11 months, 1 week ago
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4th, I have to admit this is the first time I have given you positives and agreed with your comments. I was wondering it was you or what......but I realized this is not a political thread and comments are very nice......what a wonderful change from all the garbage!!!
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fsev4111 months ago
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4ht, I too was feeling strange about not having anything to neg . Your talk about end of the world scared me and I didn't want anyone feeling that way so I negged you just to get things back a little closer to normal. Please feel free to neg me too and I promise I'll try to remember this thread in the future and remember that you really aren't a bad person after all. There are some things in life we can all agree on.
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NP, as I've said before, it's always nice to have a story once in a while that we all agree on. Thanks.
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nostalgia11 months ago
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Tough economic times are a real learning experience and something that will have an impact for a long time
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It's not just younger kids, I'm seeing a change in behavior among those in their 20's and 30's
They have never experienced a difficult economy before
No matter how much you try to teach them about money management, this personal experience will make more of an impression
I was surprised over the holidays when my kids and some of their friends were here
They have all cut back on spending and most were focused on getting out of debt
These were the same kids who were buying everything in sight when they were teens
Several mentioned listening to Dave Ramsey. They were explaining his concept of a "debt snowball" and using cash instead of credit cards
I was absolutely astounded! -
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lvrofwolves11 months ago
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I've always believed in exposure to just about everything,with guidance of course. I've never felt hiding bad things from my child did him any favors, as long as I talked to him about the situation in an age appropriate way that he could understand. I think he's turned out to be very well rounded, he's not a real go getter as far as $, but he's worked 1st paper routes at 12, then jobs as soon as he turned 16, and it was because he wanted to. He always pays his bills, he's very happy with his material possessions he has because he himself worked and paid for them, and tho I struggled VERY hard as a single parent, he's always said how much he appreciates what we had. I guess I'm glad I wasn't one of those parents that was able to just hand their kids everything and anything they wanted, it really does them no favors,we want our kids to grow up happy healthy and capable of fending for themselves. No harm in helping out if there's a need, just keep in mind what is really needed.
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TheNewsseeker11 months ago
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This article illustrates two important lessons to teach our children in these economically difficult times, which seem to be contradictive only at the first sight: On the one hand, they have to understand the basics of economy and know how to handle their money, on the other hand, they must internalize the message to discover under the ruines of our world´s financial system: Money is not all and everything, there are values which are much more valid, named faith (or: trust), love and hope!
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Albmore11 months ago
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Articles like these show us we still do have common interest. We waist to much of our lives fighting over what we disagree on. If we begin to look at each other with the respect we have seen here. We can also find common ground on things we disagree with.
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I cannot believe OUR Founding Fathers agreed on everything. But they saw the urgency to find a common ground. By giving local government governing powers they also should it was ok to have those different opinions as long as we allow our common interest to hold us together.-
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lvrofwolves11 months ago
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Absolutely Albmore, we have to remember we are all human beings first, then Americans (or whatever country one is from) then things get divided into sub categories (religion, politics etc..)
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It's all about priorities and kids must learn priorities as well, food, shelter are financial priorities.
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bolivious11 months ago
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It's today's culture. Too many people think certain things are due them. Too many parents buy in to this. Instead of making a kid work for something, mom or dad pay the bill. It's as if parents - people in general - FORGOT that working for something is EXACTLY what makes the thing VALUABLE. The next time your kid wants something - even if it's something you think he SHOULD have, make him earn it and pay for it. You'll be amazed at the results - if you're not already too late. (Then apply this concept to your own life, your employer, the government, etc.)
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lvrofwolves11 months ago
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this one thing does concern me tho, many people right now have never had experience with rough economic times, and if there's many parents right now not making it, how do they teach their children how to do it? I mean even people who have been smart as far as their financial situation goes are falling prey to these times, and losing it all. The people who were taught, work hard, save, don't over extend etc... and your life will be peachy, are falling into the abyss, damn that sounds dismal but the outlook for many doesn't look so good. I guess the kids who are the spoiled slackers will really be suffering.
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YouCouldSave10 months, 2 weeks ago
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I believe kids can of today understand economics if you make it fun, I know last year my 12 year old wanted a Playstation3, he asked what I thought about trying to earn money to get one, we spent the day writing ideas that he could try, I made it fun and gave him £20, in three weeks he had his Playstation3, I had my £20 back, and he had enough to start a savings account with £100.
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If you are looking for ways to teach your kids how to be responsible or how to make money do it at a time when they will want to listen, bedtime is good as they don’t have to sleep! Also when the light goes out their minds carry on until they fall asleep.
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