You must really love me!

What a great talk today.

Shannon and I spent about 20 minutes talking about spoiled kids, good/bad parenting, and the sense of entitlement. Did you see the video that went viral last week of the Southern dad (didn't say what state, maybe Texas?) who went on a rant because of his daughter's post on Facebook about how awful her life was? So much so that he eventually shot her laptop? I showed it to Shannon, and we talked about it. First, I had to pause the video after he read his daughter's letter. I asked her what she thought of the girl, was it fair that her parents asked her to do so much around the house? Then I continued it and we talked more at the end. We also (today) worked in examples from books she reads and, sadly, real life friends she has.

She actually asked me to make sure she never became a spoiled kid. She said she was pretty sure she wasn't one, that she didn't feel like it, but wanted to make sure. I laughed, and said that in a way, she sort of was a spoiled kid, I don't say 'no' to her very often, but that she almost never asks for unreasonable things, so there's not a lot of reason to say 'no.' I love having a daughter who doesn't have an acquisitive bone in her body.  I did warn  her, though, that it was funny to hear her beg me to make sure she didn't end up spoiled: that the only way to do that was to wait for her to ask for something and then deny it, and she probably wouldn't like that much. She laughed.

We also talked about how many kids only seem to feel their parents love them when they get expensive toys/gadgets, etc. Seven year olds with iPods. The friend who scorns my Kindle Touch because it's not a Fire like hers is. I shared with her the website of last Christmas's Twitter feed of all the teens whose lives were ruined, RUINED I TELL YOU, because they didn't get an iPhone. Or the wrong iPhone. Shannon's comment? "Parents have rights, too, and that stuff is really expensive. No wonder they didn't get it."

How did I end up with such a level-headed kiddo? Is there hope that 13-16 might not actually be a nightmare?