A to Z Challenge

A to Z of Resource Management

I was twenty-five and my first born was two years old, when one of our neighbors told me that in the US, people do not ask their children about how they spend their allowance. It was like a sting to my brain, because I remember not only did my mom ask me what we all did with our allowances, she made sure that we used it wisely. This to my neighbor was shocking. She then made a remark that sounded not too far from the truth. She said that she was not surprised that my husband and I were dependent on our parents for every decision we make. It was true that we not only sent money home, we let them know where our money went.  I did not want my children to be like us. I wanted them to have a spine and still be respectful and thoughtful.  I was confused and worried about how I was going to raise my children to be responsible adults. It just turned out that I would go with them to the corner store when they were elementary school age and watch them eagerly take out their money and buy comic books and candy. As they grew older the manner of their spending changed a little bit,  until they brought home the working papers. That was then when I told them that if they drive, they will be responsible for paying for gasoline, the auto insurance and repairs. That was harsh, but they liked to drive. Now they had a purpose for their money.

I still wonder if it was the limited source of money or obedience on our part that made us accountable  for the money we spent. 

People from all over the world have a desire to live in America. They do not realize that in the middle of abundance,  individuals and families alike are feeling the pinch, not so much in the way the money is spent but the way bills have to be paid. Buying things we need or even want sometimes is fine, but to keep buying things so you can have them is not the same as rich people buying properties so they can acquire them. The difference between a rich person of tomorrow and average people like us is that the future rich guy will spend his money in the things that promise him a good yield in his future and we the average people spend as we need to or even on impulse buying because we like what we see.  In the television show "King of Queens" Carrie gets upset when her father-in-law tells Doug (her husband) that Carrie is buying too many clothes, shoes, handbags etc. Later on Carrie thinks about the financial situation her and her husband were in and then realizes that her father-in-law was right and that she should watch her money and not be tempted by things she likes. 

Guest Post

Allison Morris is kind enough to write a guest post for me.

 As much as I am concerned about what my grand children are exposed to on the television I am not able to keep up with what they watch on a daily basis as they live a couple of hours away from us. It is not just the kids I worry about today. Even us grown ups can be vulnerable to the ads on the t.v.

(http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/better-tv-better-kids).

Television has long gotten a bad reputation for corrupting children with images of excessive violence and a barrage of advertisements. But an infographic posted recently by EducationNews.org actually argues that changing the channel may be a better solution than turning the TV off entirely. In fact, appropriate shows aimed at a child's age group can actually help boost vocabulary, problem-solving skills, and reduce behavioral problems.

Still, it is undeniable that there are many negative impacts of children watching too much television. For example, in one year, the average child sees 20,000 commercials, with two-thirds of those featuring unhealthy foods. Consequently, for every hour of television a child watches, they are 18% more likely to eat candy and 16% more likely to eat fast food. In addition, by the time they reach 18, children have witnessed more than 16,000 murders on televisions. Statistics indicate that an extra hour of weeknight viewing increases the likelihood of criminal conviction by age 26 by 30%.

However, kids who watch educational programming actually tend to be better prepared to start school. They are also less aggressive than children who watch other shows. As they get older, those who watched Sesame Street, or other comparable programs, from ages 3 to 5 typically had higher GPAs, read more books, and placed more value on achievement. Boys were also found to remain less aggressive through high school and girls were more likely to participate in extracurricular activities.

For more facts and figures about television habits among today's youth, check out the infographic.

How far?

Early this morning as my husband and I were walking in the mall, I stopped to look in the window of a big name store. He knows that I like to know what is in style and who is wearing what.  He also gives his input about today's fashion know how that he picks up from watching the television. He told me that Kim Basinger's  daughter looks quite mature for her age, although Kim Basinger still looks very young herself. I told him that I am not surprised as I am sure models keep themselves in good health. Then I almost bit my tongue as I remembered my parents telling me that only about five percent of girls who want to be models make it in the profession and the rest struggle hard to even survive, some even compromise their dignity and belief. I even asked my mom about the wrong impression we get from watching the models being admired by the general population and young girls wanting to look like them. She assured me that there was nothing wrong to wear fashionable clothes and to some extent look pleasing to the eyes. That always bothered me. Looking good is one thing but in order to look pleasing to the eyes, how far are we expected to do?
One of my former co-workers who is from Russia says that it is more important for a woman to look nice than for a man. I always told her that it is important that we dress according to the job that we do, no matter who we are. It  was very easy for me to walk and work at my job as a vendor auditor, but in customer service it was just as hard. I also had started resenting what men could get away wearing.
How far have we come as women in work force? It is hard to say without statistics and demographics. All I would like from this world as a woman is for people to look at us women as human beings. I would like men to not be threatened by us if we are more educated than they are nor to look down upon us if we are not. We could be homemakers and take motherhood seriously for sometime and be in a profession in later years or be professional now and be homemakers and mothers in later years.
In the television show "Carrie Dairies" the prequel to the HBO "Sex in the City", the high school junior gives more importance to what she wants to do, then to what her dad wanted her to do. This show takes place in the early eighties. It reminds me of a friend whose daughter sounded very independent. She too was in high school then and said that she will expect her husband to help out in the house as she will have to work.
I was lucky enough not to have educational loans. Today a lot of young women have to pay back their educational loans, so the old theory of our Indian culture that a woman's place is at home will not be practical.
Anna Nicole Smith's life was tragic but her daughter is beautiful. She may be modelling right now, but I hope that she does what she wants to do rather than what the world is expecting her to do. If she models, it should be for herself, if she does not it should be for herself too. I would say the same for the daughter of Cindy Crawford who seems to be pretty level headed..