Entitled thinking stinks QBQ

Young or Old, Entitlement Thinking Stinks View this email in your browser

Young or Old, Entitlement Thinking Stinks   John G. Miller – future QBQ! author – commanding a 1960′s “Fox Trac.”

Please pop over to the QBQ! Facebook page to learn, share, and like us! Need a great holiday gift? We're giving away "Parenting the QBQ Way" books on our blog! Five copies signed by both authors!   QBQ! News: @QBQGuy will be on The Dave Ramsey Radio Show Friday, Dec. 13th @ 3:15 pm Eastern time.   The winter of 1970 in Ithaca, N.Y. provided perfect conditions for bombing around on our now vintage-looking Fox Trac snowmobile. Thus, the 11-year-old competent, confident, and cute commander of this carriage needed the proper winter attire. So my mom (riding in the cart with my brother) and I went shopping for a “snowsuit.” Much to my dismay, we found one. Yes, the hideous thing you see me wearing in the picture. Really, Mom!? Neon yellow!? Can’t I get one in a man's color like black, Navy blue, or rich chocolate brown!? All my pleading for anything-but-yellow fell on deaf—but wise—ears. We came home with my new “banana suit” and, like it was yesterday, I remember why Mom chose it:  It was on sale. Said another way, Mary Miller spent hard-earned income on that suit because Mary Miller could afford that suit. How retro. You see ... I didn’t “deserve” the color of my choice, nor was I entitled to an “upgrade” the next season. I wore the neon yellow banana snowsuit till I outgrew it. In Parenting the QBQ Way, my wife, co-author, and money management partner, Karen, and I ask the reader, do you agree or disagree with the following statements? ·         Every child on an athletic team should receive a trophy. ·         Children must have the newest version of all things electronic. ·         Thirteen-year-olds deserve limos for their birthday parties. ·         Cell phones are not a privilege, they are a right. ·         Driving is not a privilege, it is a right. After reading the above we suspect most parents would respond with, “Right! I don’t agree at all!” Excellent. But accountable parents should also ponder these five introspective questions: “Am I instilling thoughts and beliefs like these into my child?” “Have I created kids who suffer from unhealthy entitlement thinking?” “In what ways have I become entitled and am modeling it for my child?” “Have I bought into the ‘I deserve an upgrade’ lie?” “In any way have I fallen into the trap of buying it now even though I don’t have the money now?” (Jump to this piece to see the money traps Karen and I fell into “back in the day”: Personal Accountability and Money) Forty-four years ago, my mom modeled sound money-handling practices for me when she bought that totally-functional-truly-kept-me-warm-and-dry-awful-color suit. By no means was it groovy, but it got the job done. One more time: It got the job done. And by purchasing it, she got her financial management job done—while teaching her "tween" (long before anyone knew tweens existed!) an invaluable lesson: I am not entitled to everything I want. Now that was a lesson worth learning! Questions: During this holiday season, what financial lesson(s) are you striving to teach your kids? Choose one of the 5 introspective questions above and share your answer. Comment here! JOIN US at QBQ.COM for a GIVE-AWAY of 5 "Parenting the QBQ Way" AUTOGRAPHED BOOKS! Don't forget! @QBQGuy will be on The Dave Ramsey Radio Show Friday, December 13, 2013 at 3:15 pm Eastern time. And here are ten more money lessons moms and dads can teach their children—and practice themselves, too! Parenting the QBQ Way—the Financial Piece. *** To leave a comment and/or participate in our give-away, please do not reply to this email. Click the box below!

Comment on the blog!   If you liked this piece, enjoy this one! Me? Entitled? Definitely! Not a subscriber to our QBQ! QuickNote emails? Sign up here. John G. Miller Author of QBQ! QBQ, Inc. Denver, Colorado John@QBQ.com   Choose our RSS feed   Share   Tweet   Forward to Friend   Copyright © 2013 QBQ, Inc., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you either opted in at www.QBQ.com, you requested that we add you to our list, you did some form of business with us, or you are part of our training programs and were added as part of the training experience. Our mailing address is: QBQ, Inc. . Denver, Colorado . Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences