My son’s birthday is this Friday and we haven’t bought his gift(s) yet.  My husband and I will scramble to the stores Thursday while he’s at school I’m sure. Lucky for us, he doesn’t have a long wish list.  He’s turning 15 years old and I think he has realized in the last couple of years that anything new he acquires is something else he has to keep up with or keep clean and put away.   If only my husband would figure that out!  😉  For his 15th birthday, Sebastian would be happy with a hard shell case for his new Chromebook, a new longboarding helmet, and backpacking and camping gear.    He’s pretty easy.

That said, I’m not sure Sebastian would react so gracefully as the young boy below did, if we were to give him a chopping block for his birthday.  Watch the video to see what I’m talking about then read on.  If you don’t speak spanish, don’t worry about the language barrier, it’s the expressions that are important to watch.

It appears that the boy in the video below has been taught to be:

• grateful
• gracious
• un-entitled
• positive
• easy going

Aren’t these qualities we’d all like to see in our children?

What’s the deal?

Why are our kids not growing up feeling grateful and positive but instead entitled?

Is it our fault?

Are we like that too and just don’t see it in ourselves?

I have so many questions because this is something that frustrates me a lot.

How would your child react if he/she got a chopping block for their birthday?

I’m pretty sure Madelyn would break down in tears on the spot.

Sebastian on the other hand, would probably try to make the best of it.  He’d carve something out of it.

Perhaps a wish list for next year’s birthday so he doesn’t get a chopping block again?

I am not a perfect parent, thus the title of this series, and I am well aware that my kids’ generation has grown up feeling entitled and ungrateful and I’d like for that to change.

Share your thoughts on this post and video in the comments below.

– Alicia