Persistent Kids, Peers, and Pace of Life

Entitlement. If we mention the “E-word” in one of our workshops there are audible groans and eye-rolling. Parents are overwhelmed by this complex problem which seems to be spiraling out of control.

Last year we surveyed parents about their top felt needs, and they were begging for help with the entitlement in their homes. Another indicator? Year after year, articles we’ve written about entitlement are consistently in the top five of highest page views.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about how seemingly “entitled” your kids are, you are not alone!!

We responded to this need. As we were developing our newest online course on entitlement we surveyed our Insider’s Team.  The results of this survey helped us identify the top causes for the growing problem of entitlement in homes and helped us shape our course.

Starting with number three….

3) Persistent kids that wear down parents with their demands. 

When kids really want something, they pull out the stops and tap into their greatest strengths to get it.

• Strong-willed kids can get fiercely demanding.
• Expressive dramatic kids may be on the floor weeping in despair.
• Your little lawyer will have a well-developed case! We’ve even known a couple of families where kids made PowerPoint presentations to get the thing they so desperately wanted.

Kids’ persistence can sometimes be impressive and even entertaining, but also exasperating and exhausting!

2) Influence of media and culture that surrounds our families.

Kids are exposed to over 25,000 ads a year, with companies spending $17 billion annually marketing to children, 170 times more than the $100 million spent in 1983! Our media saturated culture of “more, easy, fast and fun” values that drives this marketing onslaught feeds entitlement in powerful ways. It also pits kids against reasonable, boundary setting parents.

The “I want it now” demands, rooted in advertising, are further strengthened by seeing first hand what other kids are getting and doing. In a child’s mind, the peers with the best and shiniest become the gold standard for what all children are entitled to. Nearly every parent, in the name of helping their children fit in, has caved to these demands. Did you know that the average American household now spends nearly a quarter of a million dollars per child by the time that child leaves home?

And the number one reason, according to our survey?

1) Today’s hectic pace of life. It causes parents to:

• Do kids’ chores or responsibilities because it’s faster and easier to do them ourselves
• Let kids off the hook because extracurriculars keep them too busy
• Pay the extra for convenience meals, fast food or someone else to do the cleaning
• Buy gifts to compensate for lack of quality time or to smooth a stressed relationship

Our online course The Entitlement Fix: Growing Hard Work and Gratitude in Your Kids addresses these issues and helps you build an armor of protection against these pitfalls.

This fast-paced 4-session course is designed to give parents a solid strategy for stamping out entitled attitudes, and moving toward greater meaning in life.

You’ll learn to take your kids through a simple process for helping your family have constructive conversations about rights, responsibilities, and privileges in your home. You’ll learn graceful responses for the inevitable conflict that emerges when parents confront selfishness.  Most importantly, you’ll learn a perspective that grounds all your efforts in eternal truths from the Bible.

Join us today! At $23, we believe this is a fantastic value. If this is still out of your reach, simply contact us for a scholarship.

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