Hey Mom! My iPhone screen is cracked again!

I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard this from both of my kids.

Since the inception of cell phones, I’ve probably owned three? That’s it!

How is that possible you might ask? Like you, my phone is an extension of myself. It is rarely out of my sight. I keep it in a protective case. I’ve never had it in my back pocket. I don’t take it near water. 

Now that I think about it, my phone is like a hammer to carpenter. It is in fact a tool that I use every day.

Almost all of my kids are grown. However, not grown enough to pay for a new phone. Mom and Dad still have to do that. I think between the two of them. They’ve probably broke 6 iPhone screens? 

How is that possible?

People wonder why it is that I will spend $200 on a new pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses. “You’re just going to lose them?” they say. So NOT true. I keep my glasses (both prescription) in a case that holds both pair. I wrap them in a soft cleaning microfiber towel before putting them in. They are never scratched and I always know where they are.

So how is it that when people are constantly losing, scratching or breaking theirs?

Well, flash back 50 years or so to when I was a kid growing up in the late 60’s. We really didn’t have much money. At Christmas, we’d get a bike as our big present, but it was used? New to us but… still… used. My Dad would buy it from somebody at McClellan AFB and he’d fix it up! He’s really make it shine. I used to think about how much work my Dad put into the project. It made me always wanted to keep it new and clean and shiny! But mostly because it was mine.

Later in life as I began to play sports in school, when the time came to get new football cleats or basketball shoes, my Dad would say “How much are the new shoes?” I’d say $40? He’d say “here’s $20, you can pay for the rest!” And I would. And I’d take care of them. Why?

Because you don’t fully appreciate something of value that you earned until YOU have to pay for it!

Through time, parents have always wanted to provide for their kids a better life than they had as children. That just perpetuates a vicious cycle that doesn’t teach a lesson? 

We need to STOP giving our children everything they desire. Sure, it’s easier to just give it to them to shut them up. Cave to peer pressure so that your kids aren’t the only ones not to have the latest fad.

The answer?

They need to earn it.

I used to sell fruit from our backyard fruit trees to our neighbors door-to-door. There is always a way you can make money if you just use your head.

They need to make a goal and work towards that goal. Maybe have a matching plan like a company does with a 401k plan? For every dollar they keep in savings, you’ll match it at the end and before they make their purchase.

People do not have respect for things that they didn’t actually pay for. When you wonder why that is? 

Blame it on your parenting!

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                                                                   Lou Gallagher