It’s great when you are able to provide for your children well and meet their every need. You can bestow upon your kids incredible, undreamed-of opportunities, both at home and abroad. However, there is a risk of over-indulgence that may lead your children to take their possessions and opportunities for granted. It is a fine-line that affluent parents have to tread.
Its often not your fault, but try as you do, for whatever reason your kids have not developed the core values of gratitude, serving others, empathy and humility that you are hoping to instill in them.
Here are some tips:
- Appreciate the small things.
Start with you and your child will do the same. When we live in abundance, it’s easy to overlook all the little but wonderful things that are free and readily available. Pause for a while and point out to your child how fortunate we are to have these -the air we breathe, the water, the sunshine, the flowers in bloom-all free and abundant and yet, very important for us to live.
- Encourage them to give.
When your child is always receiving, they may forget there are others who need things more than they do. In this case, you can create opportunities for them to give. For birthdays or the Holidays your children may have an overflow of gifts so ask them if they would give any of their used or new toys to less fortunate children. This helps to overcome the attitude of entitlement and teach them the value of giving and sharing.
- Teach them the value of WORK.
You children may not appreciate the things they have because they don’t understand its value and what goes with paying and acquiring for the things they have so it is never too early to teach children the value of money by getting paid jobs.
If your child wants a new gadget, toy, book or equipment, point out that you as the parent have to work hard for it in order to produce the money needed to pay for it. Then you can assign them small tasks to earn pocket money and teach them to save their own money to buy whatever they want. When a child learns that some good things do not come easy or for free, they learn hard work and it teaches them to care for their belongings and helps them appreciate everything more.
- Take them out of their comfort zone.
Travel can be the best forum so prepare a meaningful and insightful luxury family vacation. What can this look like? Include a few days of volunteering and let your children see and help needy people and have authentic experiences and personal interactions with cultures so different from their own. The luxury is justified when you have worked hard – you have earned it.
For example, by helping build a home for and with a low-income family in Zambia, Cambodia or Guatemala, your children get to see how many people live and gain insights into their lives as they hear their stories. Your kids will be outside their comfort zone and get that fulfilling feeling of having contributed in a sustainable way.
Through these experiences, you instill admirable values in your children, create family bonds, have a unique perspective on the world and start a lifelong discovery and passion for learning.
These trips enable your children to peel back the layers and be on the road to leading contented lives of gratitude and fulfillment.
Hands Up Holidays specializing in luxury family trips that combine sightseeing with serving through meaningful philanthropic-volunteering opportunities. Contact us so we can help you create an amazing trip where your children will realize how lucky they are.
