Are Today’s Parents ..(1803-1)

　　父母为了我们的成长甘愿为“奴”。作为子女，学会体谅也应该不只是说说而已。

Are  Today’s  Parents  Children’s  Slaves  ?

　　Last weekend, I was trying to arrange to have dinner with some old friends of mine.  “Let me just check the diary (记事簿),” the mum said. She told me they would be free in six weeks because every other Saturday she and her husband were busy taking their daughter to different sports, school or social events. Their own lives had become completely dominated by their teenage daughter’s. What they wanted to do had to take second place to what she wanted to do.

　　No expense is spared, either. Estimates suggest it costs nearly 490,000 yuan to raise a child from birth to 18 in Beijing and Shanghai. British parents spend nearly ￡9,000 per year on their children, and as kids are demanding all the latest laptops, phones and staying at home even longer than before, this cost is growing by an alarming 10% every year.

　　In China, parents who are putting their offspring first in everything are called “children’s slaves” — acting as banker, chauffeur, and general assistant to make sure their kids always get what they want, when and where they want it. In the UK, these mums and dads are called “helicopter parents*” because they are always hovering around their children.

　　Do devoted parents make the happiest children? Some think so; others challenge the idea. Children’s therapist David Code has written a bestselling book, in which he says that parents’ over-focus makes their children too demanding and selfish. But, anyway, no one could deny that parents are devoted only because they love their children.

　　Do you take your parents for granted? I think I did. Do my kids take me for granted? Yes, they probably do. It’s part of growing up, but always remember, one day you yourself may be the parent with no money, no social life, and an over- demanding child. Payback time!