Differences

Nice story @sindmani. I remember a conversation from a McDonald restaurant. There were two kids 8, 10 year olds. One girl and one boy. They both got one happy meal each, I had a fish sandwich and a diet coke. Happy meals cost about $3 on the average - comes with a tiny fries, another side, and a drink with one of chicken, hamburger, or cheeseburger. Pretty good meal for a child.
One of them asks me how much it costs to buy a happy meal. I say $3. And see that the information went in and moved some cranks and levers in those little heads. So I give them a math problem about happiness.

A happy meal is $3. one has to eat three happy meals a day. How much would that cost that person? <The answer came back right pronto... $9 >

I raise the difficulty of the problem and ask: There are 30 days in a month. How much would it cost to eat happy meals for a whole month? The 9 times 30 sum was a bit more difficult. One of them was air-writing with a finger, and the other one wrote on the inside of the sandwich wrap with a ketchup wet finger. And both got to $270 with some difficulty. I was so pleased. I promised to buy them ice creams in the DairyQueen that was not too far away.
"Almost $300 for a month, isn't it ?", I asked. They both agreed shaking their head in amazement for what a lot of money that was.

I wanted to see if they'd have the attention span for one more question. So I go,"what if the person wants to be happy for one whole year? If it is 300 dollars a month, how much would it be for a whole year?". Once again, the air-finger comes out, and the other one gets up to go and fetch another sachet of ketchup. After some messing about, they come up with the cost of happiness for a whole year.​

There is one age when children could be happy all year with $3600, a little older child would find driving around in a delivery scooter as a cool job, if there is also some Rs 10000 + incentives that comes with it. It is a tough challenge to direct one's own children who are legally adults, and may choose something without any strategic scheme about the future.

Children usually pay attention to some non-parent on matters of what is a right/clever/sensible thing to do. Uncles, aunties, teacher, sports-team-coach, or friends of the family, are the usual characters who step in to help out. Clever parents always had cultivated such child-whisperers and made sure that their kids had the right level of exposure to those people.

 

@Nonya absolutely. So the trick is one coveys what he or she want their children to achieve through their pals! It works universally.
Regards.

@sindmani
What he abandoned he was thrusting upon his son or daughter. But presently in most families what they could not afford or achieve in their student days, they find fulfilment of those goals indirectly through their children. That is how half of IITians are in US. THANKS.
Regards.

 

Parents have a tough life, don't they?
They work hard, sacrifice their pleasures, and use the money to get the right sorts of opportunities for the children. But the children go on, waste the money, and screw it all up. And force the parents to lower the bar for the kids, and watch them join the army of mediocre grunts.
Should young people nip it in the bud ? Not spawn at all ? And engage in pursuits that they enjoy, instead of messing about with children?