than I can count. Just as I got tired of hearing my parents tell me that they walked to school 7 miles in the snow uphill each way during the Depression, my college age kids get tired of hearing about my multiple minimum wage jobs just to finance my college education. I am constantly in my kids face about accountability, responsibility, financial limits, but the sense of entitlement is rampant everywhere, especially with the young.

Yep! As soon as I was big enough to push a lawn-mower (the handle would hit me in the forehead if I bumped into something), I was making money. My kids are astonished at all the various low paying jobs I had in elementary, junior high, high school and college. Even worked full-time in a factory my last semester of my senior year of high school. But, that was a different era. My ex-wife and I struggled with a single income so she could be with the kids growing up, and they came out fine. But, what I see today is so much of the TV's, X-boxes, etc., are not always a sign of indulgence, but parents trying to preoccupy their kids, because they are both working and too tired to deal with them once they're at home. I think the root of the problem is our consumer based economy, and stagnating wages. We have a system that bombards families with ads about all the things that they absolutely must have (can't live without), though they really don't need them at all. And, at the same time, their buying power is reduced due to stagnating wages. The tragedy is that these kids have little means to contribute to the family, and gain added self-esteem, through the same means as I had.