How ‘Bout a Slice of Grateful Pie

As a child I wasn’t privy to wearing name brands. My mom raised me as a single mother and while my father was there for me financially and physically, my mother still struggled at times to make ends meet. Only way I got something name brand was if it was on sale or it was given to me as a gift. Once I hit high school I was given the good ‘ole if you want it then you need to buy it talk. Once I started working I never looked back.

Now as a responsible adult, I will.NOT break the bank for name brands any longer but if I find nice things on sale I will purchase them. I am guilty of purchasing a large amount of Polo for Lil Man. I get the shirts from Marshall’s or the Polo outlet. I have my preference and I love little boys in Polo so I buy it, when I can. Weelllll somewhere along the way Lil Man got it twisted and started to think it’s his RIGHT to wear Ralph Lauren. The other day I picked up some shirts for him, brought them home and gave them to him. Do you know he looked at me with the straight face and told me he couldn’t wear them because there wasn’t a Polo man on it. WHAAAAA? Then I had to have that let me tell you one thing talk with him. You know the talk, the one that as you verbally speak out loud, in your head you are repeating to yourself D*&% I sound like my mother. 

Later on I started thinking. He has never really known what its like to want something and not be able to get it, or be made fun of because he doesn’t wear the popular sneakers. We haven’t intentionally created this environment for him, at least I don’t think. As parents I think we have maybe given him too much and now in an effort to raise a well rounded and grateful child it may be time to start pulling back and instead start teaching him lessons that he is indeed blessed to have the things that he does and those things are not necessities but extras. 

I guess I assumed that he would know but how would he if we don’t teach him. I guess it all comes with the curse of wanting our children to have more than we ever had but that comes at a cost. The cost that if we don’t take the time out to explain to them those things come with hard work and dedication we could easily raise a spoiled brat who feels entitled to the finer things in life..not gonna happen.  

Note taken, lesson learned.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, remember the post here about him talking back. Well he has gotten worse. I blogged that rant over at Mami 2 Mommy on Monday. Go read, and give your girl some feedback. Between Lil Mama standing up and Lil Man running off at the mouth, I am worn OWT! Somebody buy me a “drank” puhlease!