You were down voted because this is HN and someone felt offended. You're spot on with what you said and I appreciate your perspective. We cave to the whims of

You were down voted because this is HN and someone felt offended. You're spot on with what you said and I appreciate your perspective. We cave to the whims of our kids eventually but that's because we earn a large dual income so it's no big deal if the eldest girl wants some new expensive art supplies. She told us that one of her friends has second hand / used clothes for school and doesn't even get her own bedroom. Sometimes I think it's better to grow up with some sort of struggle, our kids will never really know struggles so they'll assume things just come when you want them. I'm still figuring out the best way to handle this as I'd like to build up resilient kids rather than entitled ones that are confused when they don't get given that $100 block of clay. The eldest is a straight A student and we told her that straight A's get us off your back. This was a mistake as grades are only one aspect of what is important in raising children. I know try to teach her patience and persistence, how to be confident with people, how to handle angry people and how to negotiate, I feel like some of this is coming too late though however the last 18 months have seen her go from being shy to be being more confident with approaching adults. It's hard to be a parent, you never know if you're doing the right thing and you don't find out until it's too late!