How do I raise my son to make material things a low priority ?

Question

I believe volunteering and serving other people should be a very high priority, and collecting material things should be a very low priority . How can I raise my son to make volunteering and serving other people a priority, and to make material things a very low priority ?

Answer 1

His spirit will decide how important this is. I'm cursed with being "So spiritually minded I'm no Earthly good." Everything has its place even materialism. You are correct that in this world material concerns are too important but it seems there's no good way to change anyone including children, spouses, nor friends. The best you can do is set a good example and be patient if your efforts don't pay off for a long time. It is the nature of the world, we change no one but ourselves. When we try to force change on others it is we that become monsters. I say monsters because sometimes monsters make monsters. Love and patient example makes saints, or whatever equivalent title you prefer. God Bless.

Answer 2

You'll need to start getting him involved in helping other people now. Take him to soup kitchens on holidays or talk to local charities about how to get involved. When he's old enough, if he shows an interest, you can get him involved with the local volunteer fire department. As for keeping material things in low priority, just don't spoil him. Show him the value of little things and if there's a possession he really wants, have him earn it. I've had to pay my way and buy my own things since I was a teenager, plus we never grew up with much money, so I definitely grew up appreciating everything I had. Trust me, it works!

Answer 3

Kids are greedy by nature. I know I used to be. I grew out if it though as I got older. I wouldn't put too much effort into raising him to make material things a low priority. Denying him of things that he wants will only make him want them more.

Teach him the value of a dollar..that will do more good than telling him "material things aren't important". Remind him that there are alot of people who would be thankful to have half of what he has.

Answer 4

As a parent it is not up to you as to how he should grow up and lead his life. It is your job to show him and expose him to things you find important and let him choose his own path. If you force your child down a style of life that you want, they will always choose the opposite or somthing that you do not approve of and both of you will end up dissapointed and with an unhappy relationship.

Not to say that you do not need to teach him from right and wrong. I am going beyond that. The more subtle choices in life that make you who you are, so to should he be able to experience these choices and beacome who he is to be.

If through your example he finds that he likes and appreciates your way of life and adopts it, then he has decided he likes the way you do things. But if he goes a different direction and perhaps finds that material wants hold some value to him, this is not wrong as long as it is not taken to excess.

Perhaps he will be able to use this to his advantage and be able to help others by teaching others or his own children the balance of helping others while having some material wants.

Answer 5

lead by example.
make enjoying the non-material things fun. Improvisation and Imagination can substitute for many material things and it can be fun and intellectually challenging. I think if you get rid of all toys which require batteries that's a good start.
I wouldn't be too strict, never getting presents is kind of sad too, but emphasize the time looking forward to a present as an important part of it. Instant gratification should not be the standard.

Answer 6

Live the life you want your child to live. If he sees you consistently putting people over things, he will grasp onto that same idea, the same way materialistic people breed up little materialistic children. Take him with you when you volunteer. If he is old enough, let him choose a volunteer activity that strikes a chord in him. Give him choices, and a good example, and he will make good choices.

Answer 7

Your child is an individual---take time to know him and do not raise him according to what everybody else says. A person who is a.d.d will not learn like anyone else and a person who is extremely bright just might appear to have a.d.d and if you treated him like that you would damage him and everybody's reasoning powers are different. Learn WHO your child is and treat them accordingly but be the parent. Do not be their friend. They don't need a friend they need a parent.

Use alot of third person examples. They will naturally balk if you continually say YOU need to do this and YOU need to do that---say 10 other kids decided to do this or that---they want to be part of them

There is also validity in negative examples--- no kid wants to be the jerk in the Willy Wonka movie--

Answer 8

I have learned that the more "stuff" i have the more cluttered my house gets and more stressed I feel....

if you have a lot of clothes, you have a lot more work to do washing them, hanging them putting them away etc....

so try to balance your material things by donating and giving to the less fortunate,

ask your son to line up all his toys, and figure out which are most important..
donate the others... and when birthdays or christmas comes around... which ones is he tired of and give those away.

also teach him to save up for the things that are important that he wants.... and when he wants to buy something thats not his GOAL... ask him which is more important.
to save for the "big item" or to have the smaller ones ... that will teach him value too.

I notice some of my family members don't appreciate the things that are given to them...
for example they have a "laptop" that was a gift, they abuse it. but I suspect if they forked out their own money for it, they would treat it much more gently and appreciate it much more. (it really is disheartening.)

Answer 9

don't give into the system. Make him work for what he wants and pay for it and you will see he will be more concerned with how he spends his own hard earned money than just blowing yours. I did it with my son and he started very young first with dog walking and lawns , paper rout and now he works at a pizza place. He cares less about stuff but if he does want something he just goes to the bank gets out his cash and uses es it. I say cash because that is what we deal in cash. very important too. You lead by example. use cash and don't blow it.

Answer 10

By your example. Take him with you when you serve meals at a homeless shelter, when you donate canned food to the food pantry, take him with you when you drop off quality used clothing to the Salvation Army. Treat material possessions as if they belong to the one that actually owns them, God.

It's not material things that are bad. It is our attitudes towards material possessions that cause evil.

Giving generously is an antidote to attitudes of greed and avarice.