(09-10-2019, 10:17 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Oh good, a discussion on parenting, that's going to go well.
Honestly, I'm so sick and tired of people beliving that empathy, compassion, and understanding are negative traits.
I don't think they are, at least not in these cases. Being a 'jerk' is not buying your kid the latest and greatest electronic toys, or whatever (maybe a car) rather make them work for it. For me, I liked to spend my money on stereo equipment, and I had to save up an entire summer holidays of work to buy the things I needed -- or -- more realistically, wanted.
As for my kid, he still wastes his money away on what I consider stupid stuff (though I am sure my parents thought the same of me). But if it's not coming out of my pay, that's fine. But if he wants something that is not needed, and he has no cash because he wasted on stupid stuff (for example, he buys mechanical keyboards, literally has like 7 or 8 of them), he's out of luck.
You can only hope that the child grows up to be responsible with their money. I do have a friend that co-signed for his boy to get an expensive sports car. Son has only put a few hundred towards it the past year, so dad is stuck with a $500/month payments. Lesson in this case, only sign what you are willing to lose.