kids then and now
Oct. 10th, 2005 12:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quietannThis came up in an online discussion group. Folks were talking about how so many parents these days seem really anxious about their children getting/being "the best" of everything.
Someone commented that her father told her that when he was growing up, and before, kids were "livestock" -- they were much-needed helping hands around the house, and a big family meant lots of workers. Whereas now kids are "pets" -- not especially needed, quite expensive in an absolute cost-benefit sense, and something one puts resources into rather than expecting to get resources from.
It makes sense to me.
Someone commented that her father told her that when he was growing up, and before, kids were "livestock" -- they were much-needed helping hands around the house, and a big family meant lots of workers. Whereas now kids are "pets" -- not especially needed, quite expensive in an absolute cost-benefit sense, and something one puts resources into rather than expecting to get resources from.
It makes sense to me.
