Thrift plays bigger role in raising today's kids
January 5, 2010
Andrea Gordon
FAMILY ISSUES REPORTER
We hovered over the kids like helicopters, honed our
text-messaging, blogging and Facebook skills to communicate with and
about them, and turned our attention to going green.
For
the first decade of the millennium, those were three common parenting
behaviours. As we head into the next, attitudes and priorities are
shifting. And for many, the operative word is thrift, thanks to the
lingering effects of the economic meltdown.
"Frugal is
cool," a U.S. financial expert announced last year. That was seconded
by Toronto parenting expert Jennifer Kolari, who added "There's a lot
less stigma around saying, `No, we can't afford that.'-"
Today's
moms and dads want to instill money smarts, teaching kids the virtues
of saving a chunk of birthday money or part-time job earnings. Bubble
piggy banks that separate money into compartments for spending, saving
and donating are all the rage. Financial planners advise us to use the
family budget as a teaching tool.
Second-hand gear and
hand-me-downs are fashionable, partly for cost saving, partly because
reusing previously loved items is eco-friendly.
Instead of
spending money, many families are spending time together in affordable
ways; board games, nature hikes and other outdoor activities that get
the kids physically active are in. (Because another trend of the past
decade has been sedentary, increasingly obese offspring.) "Staycations"
(when time off is spent close to home) are common.
The families who do travel are more likely to stay in tents or low-budget motels than fancy resorts.
There
are also signs that when it comes to child rearing, the herd mentality
is also on the outs. Parents like to think they have minds of their
own. But even if you don't want to follow the trends, who can resist
reading up on and appraising the latest?
For more on the top trends we predict for 2010 and those we think (or at least hope) are on the wane, click here.
Five more parenting predictions for 2010
What's good about "bad parenting"