I wrote in an earlier post that wealth can make the job of raising normal and well-adjusted children more difficult. Wealth contains the seeds of its own destruction, but scarcity can be a great motivator.
How can we help our children to understand the value of money and have empathy for others? I think two words sum it all up:
Service and Giving
Here are some practical ways to counter that and to teach your child how to live wisely and moderately:
1. Work
Let your child earn money by working. The children's bonus system is one way, whereby your child gets to earn pocket money by helping out with family chore. I read somewhere that research shows that children who participates in household chores are more well-adjusted, have more empathy and self-control.
You can read more about how to implement it here:
http://momlearnings.blogspot.dk/2014/03/childrens-bonus-system.html
2. Service
Create a culture of service in your family. Encourage your child to volunteer his time at a soup kitchen or old folk's home or a children's home. Do it together with your child and start young.
You can read more here:
http://momlearnings.blogspot.dk/2014/03/creating-culture-of-service-in-your.html
3. Giving
Encourage your child to save up and share some of his savings with the less fortunate. Here is one way how:
http://momlearnings.blogspot.dk/2012/02/how-to-teach-children-financial.html
4. Experience sufferings
Instead of booking a luxurious vacation to Europe or exotic Haiwaii, bring your kids to see and help out in the slums of Bangladesh, the orphanages of China and the dirt-path villages of Tanzania. Here are two of them:
http://www.motherteresa.org/07_family/volunteering/v_cal.html
http://www.missionariesofthepoor.org/volunteers.php
5. Do not help your children financially
Don't buy them their own personal iPad, or iphone, or Nintendo, or car (for teenagers). Let them share your iPad. Let them save up to buy the Nintendo.
6. Bring your children on mission trip
For those living in Copenhagen, there is an opportunity from 28 June to 5 July 2014 to visit Poland's families in crisis and the prisoners with Warsaw Volunteer Mission. You can read more about Warsaw Volunter Mission (WVM) here:
http://www.wvm.org.pl/
7. Make restaurant a treat rather than the norm
When I was working full-time, I often bought take-aways for dinner. Then I started working more overtime, and in order to pamper ourselves, we did take-aways from restaurants. Then it wasn't as exciting anymore to just visit restaurants, so we started visiting more up-scale restaurants. The extravagance just snow balled easily. Now that I am working part-time, I cook more at home.
8. Stay at hostel or campsite rather than 5-star hotel
Don't always travel in style. Sometimes choose to stay at hostel or campsite instead.
9. Don't have a maid
Leading a hectic modern life, we are constantly finding ways to help us be more efficient, effective and to squeeze time out for family. One way is to have a maid at home. Ironically, they can also have adverse effects. We become very preoccupied with our needs. As far as possible, try to do without a live-in maid. If you have a helper at home, don't allow your children to leave everything to the helper. Have a set of chores for your child.
10. Reduce the wealth of your family
It is hard. Sometimes the only way that you can convincingly convince your child is by reducing your own wealth. I did so by going part-time, so that I can take a regular day out for volunteer work with J.
If you have more ideas, please do feel free to share.
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