Excessive Consumption And How To Give Responsibly To Children
On the one hand, Christmas is a time of excessive consumption, where people eat too much and give too much. The other side of Christmas is raising children responsibly.
We are in Christmas, it is the season of gifts, where children are the protagonists. On the one hand, Christmas is a time of excessive consumption, where people eat too much and give too much. Children are also infected by Christmas consumption, television is constantly bombarded with toy advertisements, we make them participate in consumption and the idea that at Christmas we must consume to have a Happy Holidays. Faced with such a bombardment of toy advertisements, children want everything, they ask for everything, if we do not set limits, children they learn to demand and to be excessively materialistic. We want children to be happy this Christmas season but they are not going to be happier by receiving more gifts. Happiness does not equal consumption. Nor is more love shown by giving more.
What is the best thing we can give our children for Christmas?
The other side of Christmas is educate children responsibly, instill values and teachings such as sharing with others, the value of family, spending time with family, appreciating what you have, appreciating the value of things, learning that you cannot have everything you want . If we give our children everything they want, we do not teach them to fight for something, to make an effort, we take away the illusion of getting something they want, because they open their mouths and have everything. We make them believe and have the false idea that they are going to have everything in life and when they grow up and become adults, they are going to feel cheated because the reality is very different. You have to strive to achieve something. We have to teach our children to know how to wait, to strive to achieve something they were excited about, to learn to value what they have and to be aware that there are many children who are not so fortunate.
We can ask ourselves if it affects children excess of gifts and toys In Christmas. Yes, it affects. At Christmas there are many holidays and Three Kings Day is sure that for many children it is already the second binge of gifts, Santa Claus has already visited them before, the children are saturated with so many gifts, from opening the fourth gift, It doesn’t matter what is inside because the child is not going to pay attention to it, he is going to look at it but not see it, being so collapsed they are losing the capacity for excitement and surprise because they are not able to digest so many toys, it is counterproductive and It is impossible for them to learn to value and care for toys when they are excessively overloaded. This excess of gifts from parents encourages a demanding attitude on the part of children, who do not value what they have but demand more and more.
Psychologists use a new term: “The hyper-gifted child syndrome “. Over-gifted children are children who have a low tolerance for frustration. That is, they are children who believe they have the right to receive everything, therefore they believe they have the right to demand more and more.
What are children with over-gifted syndrome like?
They are children with impoverished imagination They are so upset and so overdosed on gifts that they don’t pay attention to the toys. They lose the excitement, the magic, they get bored, they don’t know how to enjoy what they have.
They are capricious children. They don’t value things, they don’t value what they have.
Materialists and consumerists. They are throwaway consumers.
Selfish children. They are never satisfied with what they have, they want more. They are going to be immature, dissatisfied, unhappy adults, with little tolerance for frustration.
exist different reasons for which there are parents so permissive that they give away excessively. Many times, parents, for various reasons, are too permissive with gifts. Sometimes, parents feel guilty for not paying enough attention to their children, due to work reasons, due to lack of time, they want to compensate them with material gifts.
There are parents who have had so many deficiencies in their childhood, in childhood, that they do not want their children to lack anything and they go from one extreme to another. There are parents who believe that they have to buy their children the latest toy on the market because they will not be less than the neighbors’ children, for example. They are parents very competitive.
It is also important to know how many gifts the children should receive. So that children do not lose their magic of illusion and the capacity for surprise, it is important that children do not receive more than four gifts. Parents must teach responsibility and set limits. When the children write the letter to the Three Wise Men, they must be told that of the entire list of gifts, the Three Wise Men are going to bring the gift that they are most excited about, because there are many children in the world and that must be distributed among everyone.
Give something to use: Children grow very quickly and always need some clothes, they give a garment that they like, that has a drawing of their favorite characters, for example.
Give something to read: The love of reading must be encouraged, because it opens the doors of imagination and fantasy, from a very young age, there are books for all ages.
Give something they want. When you write the letter to the Three Wise Men, it is important that, from the entire list, you choose one that you are especially excited about, the one you want the most. This helps you be selective and know how to wait.
Give something you need n. Although parents usually buy everything their children need, it is important to teach them to value small things such as: toiletries, a musical instrument, sports equipment, school supplies.
The function of the toy is that children have fun When they play, the toy, the game, develops their physical, mental, emotional and social capacities, enhances their abilities such as creativity, cognitive processes, their sociability, their emotional intelligence. That is why the toy is so important, but it must be the appropriate toy according to its evolutionary age:
From 0 to 2 years
The right toys are those that allow you to experiment with the 5 senses and encourages them to move. Such as: The ride-on, toys to fit figures, to stack toys for the bathtub for when they are bathing, building blocks, books and interactive toys with lights and sounds, finger painting, stimulates creativity, psychomotor development.
3 to 5 years
Toys that encourage creativity, imagination toys to build, plasticines, paints, blackboards, scooters, tricycles, bicycles, costumes, children’s stories to stimulate self-esteem and values such as equality, respect for others.
From 6 to 10 years
Toys that develop their cognitive abilities such as memory, reasoning, toys to share with friends: memory board games, monopoly, puzzles, construction games, mimicry, sports accessories: balls, rackets, baskets.
From 11 years old
From the age of 11, children like challenges, such as board games, role-playing games, chemical games, inventions, games to do experiments.
The mobile
Another important issue to discuss is when give a cell phone to the kids. You cannot give 6-year-old children a cell phone because it is a technology they do not know how to use, nor can you give 10-year-old children a state-of-the-art cell phone because they do not know how to control this technology, they are in the age to socialize and not depend on a cell phone, but to interact in person with friends. It is from the age of 13 or 14 when the mobile phone is recommended; before that it is dangerous because it can create dependency.
It has been proven that the gifts that children appreciate most are not material gifts s, but quality time with parents, with family. Children prefer attention time and games with parents. When children grow up, they remember more of the time they shared with their parents and family than the material gifts they had. Parents have to understand that the most valuable gift for their children is attention and affection. Christmas is also an opportunity to teach positive values and share with family. Parents can give the gift of time and experiences as a family: tickets to go to the movies, to the theater with the family, take a trip to the countryside, visit museums, travel with the children.
Experience and knowledge
Also give to children experiences and knowledge. Parents can also give children experiences and knowledge that will benefit them in their training and future, such as camps to play sports, to improve English or to learn other languages both in Spain and abroad, cooking camps. .
Teach children to give gifts for a charitable cause, teach them to be supportive. For example, sponsoring a child, helping an NGO, is a way for children to learn about other realities, to work on their empathy, to teach them the importance of helping others and to appreciate what they have. Also learn that if they receive a lot of toys and are privileged, they should donate toys to children in need.
Another issue to discuss is whether to give and reward your children for getting good grades. There are parents who give material gifts to their children for getting good grades or for behaving well and it is not appropriate, it is not educational because children increasingly demand more expensive gifts. The children’s obligation is to study and the parents’ obligation is to work. Effort must be rewarded, not grades, as children make an effort and are motivated to learn, they achieve more positive results at school and in the family, which is why it is much more effective for children to be praised, Praise and congratulate them for their efforts to learn and internalize goals. You can also reward him/her with details, with his/her favorite food, with a cake, going to the movies, taking an excursion, the purpose is for the child to be motivated intrinsically and to strive for the enthusiasm and curiosity of learning. knowledge and values.
