Many hands make light work (Part 1)

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I was having a conversation with my son and I mentioned an acquaintance he had made a few summer ago, up in Ontario.  He replied that the teen had changed from a nice young man and had become quite demanding and refused to do anything without being paid at least $20.00.  Apparently, he wouldn't take out the garbage, mow the lawn or rake the yard with a promise of cash.  Sadly, this story is not an isolated case.  I overhear more and more kids whine about the amount of work they are expected to do (almost none) for an large amount of cash (that they are unhappy with) and think they deserve more money to do less work.  In fact, I think there is a national epidemic of young people adopting this attitude of a "sense of entitlement".

They were young when their parents were working hard and sacrificing to acquire things, and by the time they are older, these teens have become used to living at a certain comfort level.  These kids get used to more "haves" and don't have to learn how to do without.  They receive atomatic allowances that are not earned.  They whine for name brand stuff and parents give in to their whims. When these young people get out of school, they expect top paying jobs, grand houses with two and a half baths, stainless steal appliances and all the bells and whistles. *sigh*

When our children were very young, my husband and I were attending university and fit every stereotype of the starving student.  In fact, if it weren't for the help of my parents, we probably would have been both homeless and starving.  As God blessed us with increasingly better jobs, the chance for my husband to go back to school, and we saw our bank accounts start to grow, we made a conscious choice to implement several changes. One was that Christmas would continue to be modest.  Extreme spending in no way Glorifies God. (I once had friends who thought you needed to spend at least a thousand dollars on each person), we would commit to tithing, and everybody would lend a hand in maintaining our household.
(to be continued...)

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