spoiled

[plum]

Are you spoiled? Were you as a child? What reasons are/were behind the special treatment? Do you see the deeper reasons behind it? Does it matter to you?

If not, do you ever feel envious of people who have things handed to them?

 

[Manda_24]

I wasn't spoiled growing up, I never expected to have things handed to me. My brother and I were expected to work, do chores, help around the house, things like that and we didn't get an allowance for it.
I don't feel envious at all of people that were spoiled, I actually get frustrated with people that are and expected things to be done for them. My cousins were this way growing up, my aunt and uncle basically wait of them hand and foot, if something broke they were like 'that's ok, we'll just get a new one'. Even in classes now you can really tell who the spoiled people were growing up by their attitude toward the teachers and the work that they have to do.

 

[Beautiful Fireball]

I was spoiled but not in the sense that I expected things to just be given to me. I was still expected to help out around the house and be thankful whenever I got something. While my parents did spoil me, at the same time they taught me that whatever it was just did not appear out of thin air. If you want something you have to work for it.

But the main reasons I was spoiled was because my parents struggled a lot with money, and to make up for the periods that we didnt have money my siblings and I were spoiled when the money was available which probably was just a vicious cycle that caused more problems.

I don't get any help from my parents now though, I do pay pretty much everything on my own. While sometimes I do struggle with that because I have to work 50 hrs a week just to attend school and pay living expenses I am aware that I will appreciate what I am working for much more.

 

[Bubba1301]

I was not spoiled as a child.... having a penny pinching accountant for a father, I learned the value of working for the things I wanted. Yes, my parents gave my sister and I gifts and were awesome parents, but we were taught the value of work. As for looking at those people around me who were just spoiled rotten and expected everything to be handed to them I actually pitied them. The reason being is that when they finally left the shelter of mom and dad they would be in for quite a shock. If you head away from home for college you can clearly see these people because of how they treat others and how shocked they are at actually having to do stuff.

 

[pepperfish]

Hmm...this is a really good question eirene.

I guess I was spoiled as a kid. I was an only child for eight years, and I was given lots of attention and such. And then when my brother was born, we were BOTH spoiled, both with attention and material things. And depending on your definition of spoiled, you could say I still am by my parents - when I realized I hated my college last fall, they allowed me to come home and work for a semester until this fall, when I'll be commuting to a closer school... I don't think being spoiled has affected me in a bad way, nor has it affected my brother negatively. Also, my boyfriend spoils me, with affection and gifts (I think it's possible to be spoiled by people other than parents). But that's okay because I treat him the same way.

 

[2LivIsChrist]

It depends. I was spoiled more then some social groups, and less spoiled then others. When I was younger, my family wasn't doing so good financially. But, despite this God still blessed us with the things we needed. People gave us things and in canada those who were on welfare actually got a lot of free stuff, lol. So, it was actually not too bad. My parents would always tell us to stop acting spoiled and be greatful for what we had, because sometimes we would complain. But, I would have to say now, I am a lot more spoiled then I use to be.

 

[Kirley]

Growing up i always used to complain that my sister was spolied...she was sumwhat because she was the youngest child and she got alot of things i didnt, material and practical (ie. music lessons, attention, mum always sided with her etc.)

but compared to other ppl, our family didnt have very much money so i always worked for pocket money and i got a job when i was 14 and paid for any school excursions and bills i had. my boyfriend is the opposite. he is the youngest child with his two sisters 10 and 12 years older than him. so basically hes been an only child with everyone buying things for him. he got money for things he wanted, always got stuff he wanted ie. playstations and games, xbox, internet, his parents brought both cars for him that hes got, they would put petrol in them if he didnt work much. he didnt get a job til high school was nearly finished and his mum does everything for him. Washes his clothes, makes his lunch for work (hes nearly 21). He has never lifted a finger, and although i wouldve been jealous of that a few years ago.. it frustrates me now because I now have to 'train' him to do all the things that his parents should have taught him.

 

[CroCop]

No I was nowhere near spoiled like kids today are and I am GLAD my parents didn't spoil me with material things that kids today get when they cry and their parents don't know anything but to give in and buy them hundred dollar toys and gadgets.

I would get rewarded here and there with something I would want once in a while but that was rare. Yes, naturally I hated it as a kid but now that I am older I appreciate it. My parents spoiled me in that they loved me and would bend over backwards to make sure I am at church and get an education which is love to me.

Kids and parents are not the same today. If a kid cries and whines a parent buys them a plasma TV. Its terrible to see because the next generation is going to spoil itself to death with excess riches and showing and giving respect to one another will be out of style.

 

[BoarderDave]

I was spoiled... still am. I feel sorry for my brother and sister because they didn't get it as easy as me when growing up. I know Im handed a lot.. but it's soooo hard to not accept things.

I wish I could though.

 

[Beautiful Fireball]

I was spoiled... still am. I feel sorry for my brother and sister because they didn't get it as easy as me when growing up. I know Im handed a lot.. but it's soooo hard to not accept things.

I wish I could though.

Whats so hard about saying no?



I am so JK

 

[BoarderDave]

Whats so hard about saying no?

I am so JK

That's not a bad idea.

 

[faithgirl]

I wasn't that spoiled as a child. My friends would always be taken to the store and they would leave with a new toy--- that was never me! I only got toys on special occasions. It isn't that they didn't have money to fund it but they were just extremely tight on things that they didn't deem necessary.

I think now I am pretty spoiled. My parents have not forced me to get a job at all. They are also going to be paying for pretty much everything till I get a real career. My brother was the same way. I do think I am spoiled now but not overwhelmingly. My parents still stay within their means on what they can give us kids. I didn't get a brand new car on my 16th-- but I did get a car, etc...

 

[Sketcher]

I was not spoiled. The only time I feel jealous of the spoiled kids is when I see them get a job handed to them within a month of graduation.

 

[Periann]

In today's terms, no I wasn't spoiled. But my parents have always done their best by me and given me everything that I've needed and a lot of things that I just wanted. But they always expected me to do my part, and if I acted like a brat I likely wasn't going to get anything.

I don't feel jealous of spoiled people, more irritated by people who carry the attitude that things should just be handed to them for no reason other than "all girls are princesses" or something dumb like that. Of course I wouldn't have minded getting a brand new car worth 50 grand when I turned 16. But I guess I'm more glad that my mind wasn't spoiled by excess.

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

Yeah, I was spoiled. I think some of it had to do with the fact that I got very sick with Lyme disease when I was really little. But then again, my younger brother is pretty spoiled, too.

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

I was spoiled but not in the sense that I expected things to just be given to me. I was still expected to help out around the house and be thankful whenever I got something. While my parents did spoil me, at the same time they taught me that whatever it was just did not appear out of thin air. If you want something you have to work for it.

But the main reasons I was spoiled was because my parents struggled a lot with money, and to make up for the periods that we didnt have money my siblings and I were spoiled when the money was available which probably was just a vicious cycle that caused more problems.

I don't get any help from my parents now though, I do pay pretty much everything on my own. While sometimes I do struggle with that because I have to work 50 hrs a week just to attend school and pay living expenses I am aware that I will appreciate what I am working for much more.

Yeah, I was not spoiled to the point that I expected things to be given to me, either. Like you, I did chores and stuff. I also started working when I was pretty young.

 

[CroCop]

I think now I am pretty spoiled. My parents have not forced me to get a job at all. They are also going to be paying for pretty much everything till I get a real career. My brother was the same way. I do think I am spoiled now but not overwhelmingly. My parents still stay within their means on what they can give us kids. I didn't get a brand new car on my 16th-- but I did get a car, etc...

That is not being spoiled and whoever tells you so doesn't have a clue. The media tries to put it on as being spoiled because people are more and more in favour of parents kicking kids out of the house at 18 (hence why today's generation is one of the worst morally ever, divorce rates are huge, and problem after problem occurs). My parents are the same way as yours, they have supported me in every area from living to schooling until I am able to launch on my own. But all of a sudden parents supporting their children after they are 18 is evil and all kids are spoiled--biggest lie alive. If a parent loves their child and supports them through thick and thin it only shows how good of parents they are. The ones who stop supporting and force their kids into salvaging into their own are the lazy ones who only look after themselves.

 

[JulySheMustFly]

Nope, I don't think I was spoiled. I didn't expect my parents to give me the things I wanted.

I did have fun stuff though like a go cart, a swimming pool, trampoline, and a pony. Which will make people think I was spoiled but I had to rebuild the carburetor on the go cart before it would run and learn to maintain it myself. If i didn't my dad was going to sell it. The swimming pool was my dad's idea because my sister's immune system is compromised so public pools make her ill within days of swimming there. The trampoline was a rusted old thing that friends of my dad's had when he was a little boy. And the pony was a package deal with a goat. She was about 11 years old when we got her and I had to clean the stall out every weekend until I got a paying job and even then I was still expected to do most of the care for her. A car was purchased for me as a gift when I learned to drive but it was a 1974 MGB GT that only started if it liked you. Most of the time you had to smack the fuel pump with a rubber mallet to get it to start.

I watched so many kids in my school get handed brand new Volvo's and Mercedes that I wanted to get sick. Not because I was jealous of what their parents gave them but because I saw how poorly they treated their parents and how they could have cared less about taking care of what they did receive.

 

[Judy02]

Are you spoiled? Were you as a child? What reasons are/were behind the special treatment? Do you see the deeper reasons behind it? Does it matter to you?

If not, do you ever feel envious of people who have things handed to them?

Interesting topic Eirene! About what is perceived as being 'spoilt' by today's society, and why.

Why do you ask the question?

 

[Beautiful Fireball]

That is not being spoiled and whoever tells you so doesn't have a clue. The media tries to put it on as being spoiled because people are more and more in favour of parents kicking kids out of the house at 18 (hence why today's generation is one of the worst morally ever, divorce rates are huge, and problem after problem occurs). My parents are the same way as yours, they have supported me in every area from living to schooling until I am able to launch on my own. But all of a sudden parents supporting their children after they are 18 is evil and all kids are spoiled--biggest lie alive. If a parent loves their child and supports them through thick and thin it only shows how good of parents they are. The ones who stop supporting and force their kids into salvaging into their own are the lazy ones who only look after themselves.

So, because my parents choose not pay my rent or buy my food they are "lazy ones who only look after themselves?" Because they have instilled in me a work ethic they are lazy?

Some parents can not afford to help out their kids with school and living expenses, my parents are some of those people. But I can guarantee that if they had the money they would help me any way that they could.

Also, some people CHOOSE to move out at 18 or so. They want to get out and start their own lives.

I am not saying that people who have help from the parents are spoiled, I think thats great. But don't call parents who can't afford the cost of living for another person lazy, thats just wrong.