Thursday, December 11, 2008

45 - Indulging children with candy, toys and stuff

Even at a young age, my mother believed in indulging me with books, stationary and practical electronics. When I was a baby, she never gave me delicious baby food and she fed me tasteless congee and nutritional baby milk instead. When we went out, she would take me to the bookstore or the library, rather than the toy store. She led me by example by eating her vegetables in front of me and I love vegetables in addition to meat. Why is it so hard for some kids to do that?

This style of bringing me up has affected me greatly and she taught me that the finer things in life don't necessarily come in the form of a PlayStation. I learned that having what all the other kids had wasn't the healthy way to look at things and that I had to learn that what other children liked wasn't necessarily better.

She believed that those kids were the ones that would grow up never wanting to eat their vegetables. They're the teenagers that will never pick up a book. They're the students that will find learning at school boring. The kids that have always played with toy cars will become adults that'll want to spend extravagant sums of money buying fancy cars when they grow older.
They're the kids that will never mature.

And I look at my teenage friends, and I see the truth in what she believed. The ones that I deem to be immature are the ones that like the chocolate-flavored/sweet foods. They're the ones that get extremely excited by the thought of holidays coming up even though they've spent their entire school year doing nothing productive in class or at home. They're the ones that don't do so good academically, the ones that never pay attention in class, the ones that never appreciate tasteful food or art or literature or do anything that's significantly beneficial for their future and indulge themselves with computer games, expensive electronics and trivial knowledge instead.

I see this happening with my younger cousins as well. They have trouble at school because they're not accustomed to reading or thinking about deeper things. It's the way my aunts and uncles have chosen to bring them up, though, and I can't change their parenting style or my cousins' likes and dislikes. I'm not saying that a good treat serves no good purpose at all. I'm saying overindulging children with treats can lead to spoiled children that will never learn that there are more useful things to spend one's time and money on. I'm saying that these are the kids that will never grow up.

11 comments:

Toivoa ja Elämän said...

wow i agree with you ;P
plus if that picture is of you, which stands to reason, in my mind at least, you were adorable at that age! ;P

Michael said...

Thank you for agreeing with me, although, as I said on my other blog, I disagree with everybody that thinks I was cute/adorable as a child.

Toivoa ja Elämän said...

Yeah I vaguely remember that, however, the appearance of being cute / adorable / physical appealing or not in any way is all somewhat relative, and is varied from person to person. So I hold my opinion. Of course, it could just be that picture as well ^_^
Thanks for the comments on my blog too. (:

Rosalie Bass said...

I actually agree with you wholeheartedly, Michael. If you raise a child around junk food, then that may lead them to associate it with happy go lucky feelings, which will most likely screw them over when they’re older, having a terrible day, and looking for something to cheer them up. Can you spell obesity risk?

Michael said...

Rosalie: Obesity is fine. It's eating too much of that crap, whether you're overweight, underweight or just right.

Phil said...

I've got to confess, I'm basically one of those kids you're talking about... at least as far as the spending goes. I have an X-Men collection that, however pointless, I've spent thousands on over the course of my life. It's huge, and I plan to write a blog about it soon. Aside from that, I'd like to believe I'm growing in every way a little more ever day... some days more than others, I'm sure.

Michael said...

Comic Superzero: Now, X-Men is good leisure. It's literature, in a way. I guess it's moderation that's most important. Without controlled spending on things you need and things you want, you have this sort of problem.

I watch an awful lot of television and I think that if some people can take something useful out of their leisure, however weird or absurd it may be to others, it's good for one self. It's good to have leisure that improves you in your own special way.

Everyday Housewife said...

It is gratifying that I am not alone in the way I brought up my children. When I look at the way my friends brought up their children, I was worried that I was mistreating them, and the Child Abuse people would come knocking.
Like your mum, shopping trips with my children meant the bookshop and not Toys R Us, but they have a huge collection of soft toys. McDonalds and KFC are treats to be enjoyed once every few months.

Michael said...

Everyday Housewife: Hahaha... Child Abuse. I'm glad your children read. I used to have a lot of soft toys too for some reason. Collected them until I gave them away to an orphanage.

I, unfortunately, eat McDonalds four times a week on average...

J.J. in L.A. said...

Being the youngest of 7, I was never indulged. I didn't have my own tv or phone until I was 20. I bought my own (used) car in high school, while everyone else got a brand new car at graduation. I'm glad I was raised that way because I don't expect the world.

Otoh, I have a cousin who writes a Christmas list every year (she's 36 now) and gets everything on it.

I don't think I've ever written a Christmas list. It was always school clothes and underwear/socks...no wonder this ISN'T my favorite time of year. lol!

Michael said...

J.J.: 'Tis a good thing in the end, it is a good thing... Hard not to get jealous, though, right?