by Jennifer Barnett

Created on: November 04, 2009

When you buy kids gifts for birthday parties or holidays there's no problem with that. There is a problem when you buy kids gifts because you feel guilty about not spending enough time with them. What I have observed, over several years, is parents who are workaholics buying their kids tons of senseless junk. They feel that if they buy them these MP3 players, video game players, cellphones, blackberries, and other various toys their kids will love them more.

If they really sat down and thought about it, they would realize that love doesn't come with a price tag. Parents that buy their kids whatever they want, whenever they want are teaching their children to be greedy and selfish. If they start this trend when they are little, it will get five times worse as they get older. They will always want bigger and better things as they get older. Don't let your guilt rule your heart when it comes to spending money on your kids. I witness something a few months back that totally blew my mind.

A family that lives around the corner from me is losing their home to foreclosure. The mother got into a car accident a few years back, and had just received a settlement. instead of taking this money and paying their mortgage, they spent it on their fifteen year old daughters Quinceanera! I just could not believe it, these people are in debt and they are blowing thousands of dollars on a birthday party? Needless to say this party looked more like a wedding reception, than a party for a kid. They are still in foreclosure right now, and they lost one of their vehicles last week. I think they made a very bad decision, just so their little girl could be happy. Now she wants them to pay for some school trip to a ski resort in Denver! Think they won't try and scrape up five hundred bucks for that? This is an example of spending on a kid that has gotten way out of hand.

My advice to parents is to buy kids gifts when they deserve them, or when it is the holidays. Not because your daughter got mad because you forgot to pick her up from cheerleading practice. Not because you have missed one of your sons sporting events for the third or fourth time. You need to let them know from the jump start that you are a human being, and not an ATM machine to be used every time you make a mistake. Teach them this when they are little, so that when they grow up, they won't become a huge dent in your wallet/purse.

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