How do you behave when your child adopts a new hobby that is expensive and that you can't afford?

Question

Do you explain to the child that this is too expensive for the family and it can't afford it and that s/he has to find something else or do you make sacrifices to make you child happy and proud in front of his/her friends?

Answer 1

my opinion tell s\he that you can't afford with a promise that when you can you will do what s\he want or they to teach them how to save money to do whatever they want but no sacrifices because its not urgent or necessary like clothes or food or something like that because if you scarify it will be a concept to them and they will never depend on them selves or even feel the responsibility just teach them the priority

Answer 2

Your child needs to find a way to earn her own money for that expensive hobby.  She will need to learn at some point in life that she cannot have everything she wants...esp. just to impress friends.

Answer 3

explain to your children that the hobby is expensive .

tell them they cant enjoy it at any time.

promise them that when they do well in their studies , you would grant them the chance to satisfy themselves .

dont be too hard on them, they wont understand it .

but explain to them that being proud in front of friends shouldnt matter , bec this is endless .

give them a budget .

give them a bonus when they earn it .

in this way, they can enjoy their hobbies , and understand that there is a budget to be observed .

Answer 4

Allow your child to grow up in the reality that is your life, it will allow them to be stronger and better people, an incredible amount of time and money is spent looking good for other people, when those resources can be spent in developing the family as a whole and your children will feed of that, when it come to children of their own.

Tell your children the truth, tell them that it is difficult, explain to them why its not possible, explain to them that you are sorry, it can be messy, but you are being honest and they will be better for it. Your child will be your child and they will love you as you love them, that will not change.

Also another point is what could happen if your child in a couple of month or even weeks losses interest in this hobby, your attitude may turn to bitterness and disappointment, when a child is simply being a child.

My Advice is give your child/ren an allowance and let them budget their own hobbies with this allowance.

Good luck with it, it is not easy which  ever way you look at it.

Answer 5

I donno as I am not a dad yet

Answer 6

say no.explain why.life is not a popularity contest,necessities trump luxuries everytime.if her only way to be "proud and happy" is to show off with an expensive hobby,the messege sent is that her only value,her only way to impress people,is through conspicuous spending.rather than things like-talent.intelligence.personality.as for those friends ,if the only thing they like about her is material,they are not friends,they are involved in a shallow popularity game.

Answer 7

Both.  If you believe that it is a good, healthy habit, and that your child truly loves it, and isn't just doing it to be impressive, then you should make sacrifices for it.  But let them know that times are rough, and that you are making a sacrifice for them.  Later on, they'll look back and thank you for it.  They'll remember it like a story out of a book - a hard times, but also a story of love and a good life.

Answer 8

Depends on how old he/she is and what the hobby is. But it's probably just a phase because kids get bored really quickly so I can sell the stuff when s/he is over it (assuming we're talking about a certain sport or musical instrument for example).