FOCUS ON THE FAMILY COMMENTARY - Clip #9

by Focus on the Family Malaysia

It's not easy saying "no" to our children in a society that seems to say "yes" to everything. Perhaps one of the most difficult problems for today's parents to face is learning not to give our children too much. Toy companies are spending millions on advertising to children; not their parents. They know the child is the very best customer. But by giving into this pressure, parents may actually deprive their children of pleasure. You see, pleasure occurs when an intense need is met. A glass of water is worth more than gold to a man whose dying of thirst. It's worthless to the person who doesn't need it. The analogy should be obvious. If you never allow a child to want something, he never enjoys the pleasure of receiving it. If you give him a tricycle before he can walk, and a bike before he can ride, and a car before he can drive, and a diamond ring before he knows the value of money, you may actually have deprived him of satisfaction that that possession might have given him in the later years. How unfortunate it is for a child never to have the opportunity to long for something. To dream about the prize by day and plot for it by night. He might even get desperate enough to work for it. You see, saying "no" at times might be a great character builder for your child.