What the hell is she talking about: special VS "special." I just read this great article about the Gen Y cohort, kids who are now in their 20's entering the job force. But I think it can apply to this new Gen Z cohort who are your kids. It seems that this Gen Y cohort has been made to feel so special by their families and schools and wonder now that they are in the work force why their bosses don't seem to agree with their specialness. "What do you mean I have to do a sh** job before I get a promotion? Don't you know how special I am? No low level jobs for me while I learn and work my way to mastery, I want to start at the top!"
Adults and kids who are "special" have worked their a**es off to achieve this level of special. Yes they may have excelled in some area to start with, but they also put the time and effort in to get the mastery and thus the respect for their "specialness."
Believing in and helping your children reach for their dreams is the job of parents. But making sure they understand the hard work it takes to reach them is equally important. Using contacts and connections to give your kids a leg up is fine as long as they do the "leg work" to make it happen. Otherwise this can be the consequence: "a great source of frustration for people with a strong sense of entitlement is unmet expectations. They often feel entitled to a level of respect and rewards that aren't in line with their actual ability and effort levels, and so they might not get the level of respect and rewards they are expecting
As your teens move into the pre-college years, your job moves into the "consulting phase." Encouraging your teens to reach for the stars is great, reaching up and plucking the stars and giving them to your teen, not so great. This article I think paints a picture of your teens future and a roadmap for how you can help them now to get there.
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