A while ago I was watching the travel channel and they had a special about Disney World. I, like most people love all things Disney, but I was fascinated to see how much of the show was all about the VIP child.

Did you know that you can buy a ticket, apparently very limited in number, where they will close down the park to everyone else and you and your child can roam the park, essentially alone? You hunt for treasure, you have princess or pirate lesson, the whole “world” cater to your every whim.

Now here’s my question, which came first, the parks desire to earn more profit, therefore they have such an exclusive activity for spoiled little princes and princesses, or the parents spoiling the children beyond all recognition and the park saw an opportunity? Kin of the chicken or the egg thing!

I mean, come on! We all like to give our children a special night or birthday or whatever but some of these families were taking their precious princess at least yearly to have the fantasy of the world belonging to them. I’m willing to bet that the world belongs to these kids much more than at Disney World! I love a fantasy as much as anyone else, I just think we need to be very careful about what we are teaching our kids. We tell them by our actions that they will never have to work for anything, we will hand the world to them on a platter. We tell them they will never be hurt or lose or not be perfect. We don’t give them any skills to deal with difficult people, to serve one another, to serve their country, to just be a good solid contributing adult. They won’t raise those kind of kids because they will still be the kids!

We have these kids in our homes to teach and train for such a small fraction of their lives, we have to step it up! Think of all the things you have to know when you head out on your own; how to budget, pay your bills on time, stay out of the kind of debt that has crippled our country, get and hold down a job, continue to be educated, how to choose a mate with more than just good looks, how to clean up after yourself, and on and on and on. These things don’t just magically happen when you leave your parents home, we need to give them fundamental skills in all areas so that they can continue to learn and develop on a sure foundation.

Think of all the things you learned after you left your parents home. Where would you be now if your parents had been anxiously engaged in giving you vital skills, how mach farther along would you be now?

I had only survival skills when I left, it has taken me years to figure out who I am and how I will live and how to raise my children so that they will have the best chance possible. I took every class, every seminar, every book, every piece of advice from neighbors and sifted through it for truth then made conscience decisions about how to proceed. This along with a great deal of prayer seems to work. My kids never had many material things but they had a lot of love and laughter growing up. They know how to serve, how to love, how to work, how to give back, how to be grateful. I believe that they have a huge head start and my grandkids will be better off for it. They won’t be starting from –98 like I did!

So when you want to give your child a something special, think about this……is it truly a rare special occasion that they will treasure and remember, or is it a pretty much everyday, common event that just reinforces the notion that they are entitled to everything and better than most?

Be careful parents, you aren’t just raising precious babies, you are raising the next leaders of our nation, the next soldier, the next parents, the people who will be there for you when you are old and grey……..or not!