Are parents spoiling their kids too much?
Showing love or killing them with love? What do you make of it? Listen as a child psychologist shares her views with Damon on this topic.
I haven’t heard the phrase 'spoilt brat' in ages, but then on Wednesday I heard it just out of the blue!
A kid was going berzerk in the shop while her poor mom was buying bread and milk. The mom was trying to work out how to stretch her December salary until the ping on her phone confirmed that her January salary had been paid. The little girl was throwing a hissy fit because she wanted a packet of chips and her mom was refusing. Thirty seconds later, the mom had thrown the bag of chips in her trolley and the kid was completely calm.
Read: Four signs your child is spoiled
I’m not a parent, so I speak from inexperience, but from what I’ve seen, it seems that it's easier to just spoil a child and make them happy than it is to stay strong and not give in? Realistically, if you’re in a store and your five-year-old starts screaming because they want a specific toy or sweet, how many parents would rather just buy the item to keep the child ‘happy’?
Giving a child everything they want and ask for is the opposite of showing them love. Children are being spoilt, parents are giving in, and it almost seems as though it’s not about whether people can afford things, it boils down to keeping the child happy. There's a fine line between being lenient, showing love, and spoiling them too much.
Read: Mom spoils kids, receives backlash
When I was growing up, I was denied things. It didn’t ruin me. It didn’t destroy my life and it didn’t leave me without friends. It made me upset at the time, but it also made me appreciate every little thing so much more.
To get a professional opinion on the matter, I managed to catch up with local clinical psychologist Julia Green. She runs a practice in Glenwood and has a new practice at the Meyrickton House in Hillcrest.
Take a listen to her thoughts on the act of spoiling in the podcast below:
Parents - do you spoil your child too much? Do you give them whatever they want just to keep them happy and stop them from screaming in a store? Or are you the parent who says a firm 'no'?