Let’s be honest-sometimes our kids have it too good.
They grow up surrounded by technology, comfort, and convenience. And as parents and grandparents, we often make it even easier because love makes us want to give. We want them to have what we didn’t. We want them to feel secure, supported, and cared for.
But comfort without gratitude can quietly breed entitlement.
A Generation of Potential
This generation is phenomenal. They are smart, creative, and full of ideas. They adapt quickly, think globally, and believe anything is possible. That’s a powerful gift but without grounding, that same brilliance can drift into pride or apathy.
Gratitude is what gives their greatness direction.
When young people learn to appreciate what they have and work for what they want, they develop the kind of maturity that turns talent into legacy.
Love Doesn’t Mean Easy
Most entitlement doesn’t come from bad parenting it comes from love.
We give because we care. We step in to protect them from struggle because we don’t want them to hurt. But sometimes the lessons they need most are found in the struggle.
When a child never learns to earn something, they miss the quiet strength that comes from effort. They miss the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment. Love gives, but wisdom guides.
It’s a balance every parent and grandparent has to find, loving them deeply, while still allowing life to teach them what only experience can.
What Gratitude Looks Like in Action
Gratitude is more than saying “thank you.”
It’s showing appreciation through responsibility, respect, and consistency. It’s cleaning up without being told. It’s working toward goals even when no one is watching. It’s realizing that blessings are not guaranteed - they are opportunities.
Gratitude grows character.
It reminds young people that success is not handed out it’s built, one disciplined choice at a time.
Helping Them Grow Toward Independence
The greatest gift we can give our children and grandchildren isn’t money or material things, it’s independence. Not just financial independence, but emotional and spiritual independence.
When they learn how to make wise decisions, manage disappointment, and take ownership of their path, something shifts. They start to grow up. They stop waiting for someone else to save them and start becoming the person God created them to be.
A Story of Love and Lessons
A grandmother once had a granddaughter in graduate school who lost her scholarship. The loss was a hard blow, it meant she’d have to find her own way, maybe work a part-time job, or adjust her lifestyle. But instead of letting her face those realities, her grandmother stepped in and covered everything.
She paid the rent, the tuition, and all the little extras. The granddaughter didn’t have to change much; life carried on as if nothing had happened. The grandmother’s heart was pure, she loved her granddaughter deeply and didn’t want to see her struggle.
But over time, something subtle began to happen. The granddaughter grew more dependent, less grateful, and even a little careless. The pressure that could have shaped her became comfort that softened her. The grandmother eventually realized that while she was helping out of love, she was also robbing her granddaughter of an opportunity to grow strong, resourceful, and grateful.
So she changed her approach. She still loved, but with boundaries. She encouraged her granddaughter to get a part-time job, budget her expenses, and experience the reward of earning again.
Months later, that same granddaughter walked in with a renewed sense of pride not from what was given, but from what she had earned.
Final Thoughts
Entitlement doesn’t mean a young person is bad it just means they haven’t been stretched yet. And gratitude is what stretches them.
As parents and grandparents, we can still love fiercely and give generously but we must also guide wisely.
Because if we keep rescuing them from every challenge, they’ll never discover the power God placed within them to overcome.
Our goal isn’t to raise children who always need us. It’s to raise adults who thank us.
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