The down turn in our economy has made all of us very aware of how fragile our financial lives can be. Whether it is the potential loss of a job or reduced profit from a business, we are all feeling the uncertainty. Everyone has started to look for ways to scale back their spending and reduce their expenses.
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Children also are concerned about the financial future of their family, but have a much harder time adjusting to the "new reality". Teenagers that have spent their time shopping at the mall and dining with friends on their parents credit cards are not always cooperative in making adjustments in their spending habits. Many parents, while feeling guilty about their financial worries affecting their children's lives, are not dealing with the reality that we all (teenagers included) have to live within our means.
While you want to make your children feel secure and not be overly concerned about the current situation in our economy and your abilities as the heads of the household to deal with it, your children have to understand the realities of the world. No matter what your economic status your children must understand that things change and you must adapt and change with them.
On the other hand you can't ask your teenager to give up the activities that they have become accustom to without other activities to replace them. This would be like asking them to stop having fun. Instead help them find new more budget friendly activities to replace their shopping, dining and spending you into bankruptcy. Replace meeting friends at the mall with inviting friends over to swim and then stay for dinner. Buy your teenager an insulated cup and show them how to use the espresso machine to make their own lattes. Introduce them to the fine art of sandwich making, while showing them where you keep the brown paper bags. Maybe a part time job could take up some of that extra time and help them appreciate the value of money. If a job isn't possible maybe duties around the house they get paid for. It amazing how $20 of their money has so much more value than $20 of your money once they have to work for it.
Talk with your children about money. As parents we make thoughtless comments like, "money doesn't grow on trees" that insult the intelligence of our children, while teaching them nothing about handling money in their life. Many high school age children go off to the mall armed with their own credit card on mommy and daddy's account before they even have a checking account or could successfully balance a checkbook. This is like buy a fifteen year old a fast car and letting them drive with no license or even instructions. Lack of financial knowledge is what has gotten this country in the mess we are in. 30% of the people in this country think it's a sin to talk about money, another 30% of the country thinks that as long as their Visa Card isn't declined they still have money to spend, and the final 30% just doesn't want to think about it or it will give them a migraine! The remaining 10% understands money, but doesn't share the information, sometimes even with their children. Someday your children will be taking care of your grandchildren, how do you want your grandchildren to live?
As parents we try to insulate our children from most of the struggles that we had on our way to the successes we have achieved. I think in many cases we are cheating our children of the ability to overcome their own problems that they will have in life when we are no longer around to fix them. I think most successful people realize without some of the problems and obstacles they had to overcome, they never would not have been successful in the end. If your teenager can't survive the weekend without shopping to overcome boredom and thinks it's beneath him or her to make their own latte, how are they going to handle life's major setbacks?
It is said that in every adversity are the seeds of a greater benefit. Maybe the benefit of this economic slow down is that we will teach our children what our parents didn't teach us. As parents we can explain how to adapt to changes in life, how to manage money and live within our means and how to overcome any obstacles that life give
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