Reply to S/O entitled kids--at what age do you start with instilling ethics/humility etc in your kids

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Let me just say that raising an entitled kid is my idea of a nightmare.

I know the default answer is you can never start to young, but I have an 18 month old. She cannot entirely express herself, and I don't think she'd get concepts of "work" (e.g. earning your money), materialism etc. We say no to her of course, and emphasize sharing (she is actually really good at that) and kindness.  But, when it comes to getting her books (library and the store), I shower her with books.  Family buys her toys, but I stashed some Xmas gifts away for a rainy day).

What else? When did you start your kid on the concepts like:
- earning money so that they could buy something (delayed gratification)
- community service (DH and I don't have time to do this so we donate, but I plan to bring her along once she is old enough)
- that material goods don't bring you happiness, ultimately?

I would think 4-5 would be the right age when you could start on some of these, but I am curious as to what work for parents of older kids. [/quote]

You can start with small things even as young as 2. Such as encouraging sharing, discouraging bad behaviors, picking up after themselves, feeding themselves, etc. This is probably common sense, but encouraging being friendly with other people, treating them to be nice, knowing your neighbors, etc. If you start doing these things at 2 by 3 they will know a great deal already about how to care for themselves and others. Then you can add age appropriate rewards for cleaning, picking up toys, brushing teeth, etc (stickers to pocket money).

As I got older I would have set chores for allowance and would do odds and ends for more money. By 9 I had a bank account with my Mom where I could deposit my earnings and use checks. As a teenager I had a debit card (which I rarely used) and a credit card from my parents (in case of emergency and nothing else). In college I got my first credit card, used it sparingly by remembering lessons from my business teacher in high school; never charge more than you can pay off every month. I might introduce credit cards earlier to my kids just so it is used wisely before entering college.[/quote]

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