I Don’t Want My Child to Struggle

 This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018 at 5:32 pm

My mom always told me that she wanted me to have a better life than she had. Let’s be clear, my mom did not have a bad life filled with trauma that so many people do, but she simply wanted me to have a better life. I think that so many parents feel the same way, but sadly I also feel so many parents have the idea in their mind that if I give them more then they will be able to perform better. I am not saying don’t expose your kids to things, I am saying don’t remove struggle from their lives in an attempt to make their life better.

The old joke is, “how do you make diamonds………pressure.” I have the privilege of living in one of the best places on the planet (according to all those publications that rank the best places to live). It is easy to live here, relatively speaking, compared to other places we have lived in the past. The schools are good, the crime is low, the scenery is nice, and as a result there is affluence. There is nothing wrong with affluence, as long as it is not used to provide “stuff” to make kids lives easier. In my opinion, when we try and remove struggle from our kids’ lives, we do it out of our own selfish desires.

One of the challenges with living in this area is entitlement. Entitlement, for those that are not familiar, is the belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges (according to Merriam-Webster). Quite truthfully, the world does not care where you came from, what your parents did, how much money they make, they care about your contribution and how you make others feel. Entitled people don’t care about, they only care about what they believe they think.

In the end, if you want the best opportunity for your child to become the well-rounded, balanced, caring individual that you can be proud of………. don’t save them from the struggle. Question for you, tell me about the person that had everything given to them that went on to do great things and was not entitled?