Chambers
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My daughter (7) has a Christmas list of 100 things she wants; how do I crush this materialistic desire in her?

Anonymous in /c/minimalism

969
I’d love some advice regarding my daughter. We’re a… well I wouldn’t call my family poor but most of us struggle to make ends meet. I’ve made an effort to teach my children not to be overly consumed with material things, to know the value of a dollar, and to not step on others for success. <br><br>I think my step daughter is going to be a difficult lesson. She’s 7 and oooohhhh my. She goes to a school that’s filled with wealthy kids. I think she might be one of the poorer kids there (we’re solidly in the middle class) and I think she knows that. She’s very kind and generous but she does get fixated on material things; she’s obsessed with this one dollhouse playset thing that costs too much for us to afford (over 300$), and is generally rather consumeristic. <br><br>This morning she made a list of 100 things she wants for Christmas. I took a look and was flabbergasted. There’s so many things on that list, from a bedroom set furniture to a very expensive pair of AirPods to an iPhone (which we cannot afford the phone bill for) <br><br>I plan to gently take away her tablet when she isn’t expecting it, and tell her that from now on she’ll need to use the computer if she needs Google something or wants to play games. Our computer is in the middle of our home, so everyone can see her when she’s on it, and I can keep a better eye on her. <br><br>I also plan to make her a budget for toys. She gets 20$ a week in pocket money from her grandpa, and she always saves it. This time I’ll let her use it to make some purchases, but I have to approve of them first. <br><br>My children are not allowed to go to the grocery store with me because I don’t want them developing a habit of asking me to buy them foods. They also don’t see me purchase their toys, because I don’t want them developing a habit of asking me to buy them things. <br><br>I plan to make them help me as much as possible with the cooking and the cleaning. It’s not really a punishment, because they help me anyway, but it’ll make them realize how much effort goes into keeping our house nice. <br><br>I’ll make sure they continue to read a lot of books. I’ll probably have them read a book a day, or at least start. <br><br>I would also like some advice on how I can help her be less fixated on material things. What would be some other methods to use to teach her?

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