A new study showed parents hope their kids will find financial success and work happiness. That's a reflection of what families face in the US today - not bad values.
All of this. Everything you say about the cost of childcare, healthcare, education, everything in our American lives raising kids is expensive and hard. It’s a systemic problem. It’s hard to see how the system can be fixed, so this mindset will likely stay for a long while. Am I being too pessimistic?
I don’t think so :) I don’t think the people creating the system really want it to be fixed. I try to be proactive in the financial choices I make while raising my family. It also definitely helps me feel grateful for the cost of living in my pretty lame small town. Something I never would have appreciated pre-kids.
All true, and sad. We do what we can. We are financially fortunate in my family to have choices and freedom to do a lot of things. The more we have, the more I wonder what I can do to help and then I'm lost about the impact I can have.
I agree with both of you, Stephanie and Laura! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
It’s true that from an individual perspective, it’s hard to know what we can do about these systemic problems. For me personally, I try to support candidates and causes (including local nonprofit organizations) who could move the needle on some of these issues, even slightly or incrementally. In keeping with Stoic thinking, we can work on what we can control and influence from where we sit. But it’s very frustrating to see how how things often seem to move one step forward and two steps back in a lot of these areas. That makes it hard to be optimistic.
Perhaps Generation Z (and beyond) will think differently about this. I encourage my Gen Z kids to care about these issues, too, so that they could maybe make a difference some day (without putting too much pressure on them to save the world!). For example, we have worked on community service projects together, and I've supported their volunteer work on issues that matter to youth and families (in their schools, and in service orgs). It's small things and not systemic, but it's something. Doing what we can, in the situation we are in - for me, that's the essence of Stoic life philosophy.
Great post! I just subscribed and am happy I did :) my kids are only 6 and 8 but we are already having big conversations with them about school and family. I think kids value age appropriate honesty, they want to know how the world works.
Thank you! That's great to hear. I think it's important to expose kids to these big topics, in age appropriate ways - they can learn from our opinions and start to form their own! Kudos to you.
All of this. Everything you say about the cost of childcare, healthcare, education, everything in our American lives raising kids is expensive and hard. It’s a systemic problem. It’s hard to see how the system can be fixed, so this mindset will likely stay for a long while. Am I being too pessimistic?
I don’t think so :) I don’t think the people creating the system really want it to be fixed. I try to be proactive in the financial choices I make while raising my family. It also definitely helps me feel grateful for the cost of living in my pretty lame small town. Something I never would have appreciated pre-kids.
All true, and sad. We do what we can. We are financially fortunate in my family to have choices and freedom to do a lot of things. The more we have, the more I wonder what I can do to help and then I'm lost about the impact I can have.
I agree with both of you, Stephanie and Laura! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
It’s true that from an individual perspective, it’s hard to know what we can do about these systemic problems. For me personally, I try to support candidates and causes (including local nonprofit organizations) who could move the needle on some of these issues, even slightly or incrementally. In keeping with Stoic thinking, we can work on what we can control and influence from where we sit. But it’s very frustrating to see how how things often seem to move one step forward and two steps back in a lot of these areas. That makes it hard to be optimistic.
Perhaps Generation Z (and beyond) will think differently about this. I encourage my Gen Z kids to care about these issues, too, so that they could maybe make a difference some day (without putting too much pressure on them to save the world!). For example, we have worked on community service projects together, and I've supported their volunteer work on issues that matter to youth and families (in their schools, and in service orgs). It's small things and not systemic, but it's something. Doing what we can, in the situation we are in - for me, that's the essence of Stoic life philosophy.
Great post! I just subscribed and am happy I did :) my kids are only 6 and 8 but we are already having big conversations with them about school and family. I think kids value age appropriate honesty, they want to know how the world works.
Thank you! That's great to hear. I think it's important to expose kids to these big topics, in age appropriate ways - they can learn from our opinions and start to form their own! Kudos to you.