It finally hit me, my children are ungrateful. Yes, I said it. I have had an inkling of this for some time but I was hopeful that I was just overreacting. They haven't always been this way. When they were younger they were happy to go to a restaurant as a treat or to get a buck or two for spending. As they have gotten older, little treats like this have lost their luster.
On our trip to the beach the other day my two older children bickered and argued almost the whole way there. It had something to do with my daughter singing, and her older brother wanting to put a muzzle on her. I warned, I glared, I almost undid my seatbelt and jumped into the back seat for a good old-fashioned smack down. Instead, the temperature inside me rose to degrees unseen in a human before. The best was yet to come.
Once on the beach, my older son, sunk into the sand and showed no interest in getting in the ocean. This didn't deter me from having a good time. I decided long ago that one monkey doesn't stop a show. If he wanted to sit and sulk, I was fine with that, but I wasn't going to let him ruin my time. On the way back, as my husband and I discussed an upcoming solo trip he and I were taking, my step son mumbled under his breath about how we only take them to the beach and never to a hotel with a pool ( a lie). Even if it had been the truth I still find it hard to understand how our children became so ungrateful.
When I was younger and my mother was on welfare, our idea of an awesome treat was going to the diner once a month for a cheap meal. Now, going to a restaurant is no biggie. My children expect it. It holds no value to them. I want the best for my children. I am working hard to make sure they have a better future. But I have to wonder if my quest to give them better has succeeded in turning them into spoiled brats. To their credit, they don't have tantrums in the store if they can't get what they want, and their Christmas list's are void of the newest electonic gadget, but overall I can tell that the small things in life do not hold much of a thrill to them. It's sad because it flies in the face of all that I hold to be true...that life is not about what we have but how we live it. If they can't enjoy a day at the beach now, how will they enjoy it when bills and responsibilities consume most of their time?
After this eye opening adventure I have decided some things need to change. A coworker approached me with coupons to an indoor waterpark. I didn't even raise an eyebrow. "No thank you. My children are ungrateful", was my reply. I still haven't come up with the solution to this problem, but I have a way of coming up with ingenious ways of getting my point across. In the meantime, I am planning a trip with my husband to celebrate our anniversary. As I soak in the hot tub, and swim a few laps in the pool my mind will be free of the nagging voice of guilt that usually says the kids should be here enjoying this too. Nope, not this time. They had their chance and they blew it. Now it's my turn.
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