David here.
On the way back from Church activities tonight, the 3 oldest were talking about how spoiled William (10 month old) is going to be "when he gets older and the house is paid off." They then began to list the things they have been, or are deprived of, which he certainly will not have to experience (it was all in good fun and we were laughing).
Now, before I give the list and in my defense, let me explain a few things. First of all, I have 7 children; second, we are trying to get our house paid off 3 years from now; and third, I am no cheapskate...we spend plenty of money and have plenty of fun. Most of what you will see below is to help pay off our house and to raise kids who are not spoiled, know how to work, and can grow spiritually (and no, we are not perfect...far from it, just pointed in the right direction, I hope).
Now that I have successfully convinced you to be on my side, here is the list of things they are "deprived" of:
- A cell phone (we have only one cell phone, with the basic plan)
- High speed Internet (we have Dial-up Internet--this helps us limit our time on the Internet and allows us to spend more time together as a family)
- T.V. - our antenna works about 1% of the time
- Milk (yes, we drank powdered milk for 2 years when real milk was about $4 / gallon. Thanks to our friend Ellen for bringing by a gallon of 2% which helped us remember what we were missing)
- Pets (well, no pets that they want...they had gerbils that Marilyn released into the yard and I told them they could have the neighborhood Tomcat, who we call Stalker)
- Free-time after dinner (They act like dinner jobs are the end of the world and their bones turn to rubber when we mention that the jobs will "only take a second")
- Costly birthday parties (over $5)
- School lunch and "lunchables" (they get to have school lunch one time per week, and actually prefer to take their lunch)
- Unlimited electronics and gaming time (they are only allowed to play video games and watch movies on Friday's. This works well for me and Marilyn because they always want us to go on a date on Friday so they can binge on electronics)
- Free-time on Saturday (we do yard work or house work in the morning and then do something fun in the afternoon)
I don't think this is what Daniel meant when he was referring to the Desolation of Days, but they seem to think so.
Well kids, to put things in perspective, when William is "your age" Mom and I will be in our 50s and will be too tired, worn out, and boring to:
- Go sledding at Roan Mountain
- 4-wheeling
- Clean the pool so you can swim in it
- Wrestle on the ground
- Build a $40 homemade projector that projects a 11' X 15' movie on our wall
- Go camping
- Drive 6000 miles out West and back
- Visit church history sites
- Take an outing every weekend
- Play video games
- Etc... - read the blog for the rest of the list
Although this post is really meant to be tongue-in-cheek, someday our children will thank us that they were "deprived"....
8 comments:
I just caught up on your last few posts. What fun your family has. My hat is off to you. Your kids will never forget their childhood. I know we aren't suppose to but I envy you.
My kids have begun to complain about exactly the same thing "Bridie and this baby are going to be so spoiled" and I just tell them "Yes."
The Harkness kids feel the exact same way and I am already seeing the changes that are taking place for instance I use to always go to bed at 8:30 every night but now the other kids get away with 9:30 or even 10:00. Bridie sometimes comes in to the study and stays up with us. One of the things they have that I had but did not appreciate is sleeping in till 8 every morning I wake up at 6:30 and am off by 7:35 before half of them are up. The life of a teenager is really tough and I could use a little appreciation. Just Kidding (not really), James
Loved your post, David. And it's a fact of life--the older kids in the family have a very different life from that of the younger ones. Both have advantages and disadvantages (as you pointed out). It hit me again at our recent Pieper family reunion--my brother and younger sisters remember Dad playing games with them, so a big part of the reunion for my bro was to play Rummy with the family in memory of HIS dad. Well, as one of the older kids in the family MY dad never had time to sit around playing Rummy with me! My brother's memory bank of life at home is way different from mine in many ways. But both were good--just different. I think another reason that things change is that some of the stuff that we thought was REALLY important when we began raising our kids doesn't REALLY matter that much over time and isn't worth the stress.
I Love how deprived your kids are! I am going to try to deprive my kids just a little more. You guys are an inspiration to us!!
Sounds like you are doing well, despite the deprivation. :) I think our kids are just about the only kids in Tremonton without their own cell phones. (We let them borrow Steve's old one from Alabama that only charges per minute if they need to drive somewhere). P.S. Any tips on saving food money for ravenous teenage boys?
Ha Ha! I used to think we were so poor when we were growing up. My parents paid off our house when I was in college. I'm now trying really hard to deprive my children the way we were deprived.
Sounds like a good idea-- living within your means. You are a good writer, David.
Post a Comment