Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: The World’s Financial Crisis

It’s impossible to turn on the TV and not hear about the economic crisis plaguing the world. Having gone through a similar crisis when I was a single mother of a son and a daughter, I know about the challenges that many parents face in these troubled times.

Trying to keep up with providing the bare necessities is difficult enough when raising children. But things go from bad to worse when kids beg for and/or demand things that their parents cannot afford. A child who really wants something could teach military or criminal interrogators a thing or two about achieving a necessary end. Children are experts at wearing down their targets and moving in for the kill when all defenses and the ability to resist have been obliterated!

The only hope for survival is to help children become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. This can only happen when parents educate children about the financial challenges facing the family. Once children know the truth about the situation, it’s possible to ask them to cooperate with efforts to resolve the family’s money challenges rather than work against the efforts.

This process can be greatly enhanced by using my book called A Fun & Easy Way to Earn an Allowance. This book encourages children to take on more family responsibilities, and it helps them become more personally responsible for getting for themselves the things that they need and want.

It never ceases to amaze me how surprised parents are when their children truly get what’s happening and pitch in to help make things better. In reality, children are no different than adults: They would prefer to know what’s going on—no matter how bad things are—rather than be in the dark, living in fear of the unknown.