Dexter the cartoon scientist beats the Spiderman and the fairy-princess in the cater-to-parents domain
because the things parents want include (1) happy children and (2) children who aren’t complaining about not having the stuff they want. Accordingly, if children prefer Spiderman and fairy princesses, they will often get them.
Sounds like too many parents being a bit undisciplined and giving in too easily. I can empathize with that, having a 14 month old, but still I wish we could be as adamant as our parents, whose “no” was really a 99% no, and not like our “no, well, unless you yell a lot, in which case yes, as my nerves aren’t made of steel and avoiding pain for me is not always less important than principles”.
Happiness is not simply getting what one wants, often it is closer to learning to be content with what one can have. Seriously, simply fulfilling childrens wishes, hoping this will make them happy would be seriously bad parenting, they would quickly become spoiled and basically want everything right now, the difficult yet necessary trick is figuring out how to make them happy while not getting everything they want to.
It’s not clear to me that
because the things parents want include (1) happy children and (2) children who aren’t complaining about not having the stuff they want. Accordingly, if children prefer Spiderman and fairy princesses, they will often get them.
Sounds like too many parents being a bit undisciplined and giving in too easily. I can empathize with that, having a 14 month old, but still I wish we could be as adamant as our parents, whose “no” was really a 99% no, and not like our “no, well, unless you yell a lot, in which case yes, as my nerves aren’t made of steel and avoiding pain for me is not always less important than principles”.
No, it sounds like a lot of parents prefer to have happy kids without a message rather than unhappy ones with one.
Happiness is not simply getting what one wants, often it is closer to learning to be content with what one can have. Seriously, simply fulfilling childrens wishes, hoping this will make them happy would be seriously bad parenting, they would quickly become spoiled and basically want everything right now, the difficult yet necessary trick is figuring out how to make them happy while not getting everything they want to.