Читать книгу Money Mammoth - Ted Klontz - Страница 41

It's easy to point fingers at people who are wealthier than you and argue that they are spoiling their children. However, the concept of spoiling is really a matter of perspective. To the average European in the Middle Ages, we as adults today were all spoiled as children. In fact, we were living in the lap of luxury. We had our own room (or only had to share it with one or two other people); we had indoor plumbing; we didn't have to start working until we were teenagers (or even adults); we got to go to school, we probably weren't beat on a regular basis (sorry, if you were); we probably had more than one set of clothes or shoes; we were regularly given a bath with warm water; and we were probably taken to a doctor or dentist for “check-ups” when there was nothing major wrong.

So, rather than putting people into categories of good/bad, right/wrong, it can be helpful to look at the concept of “spoiling” along a continuum. Certainly, Ethan would have been on the outer edge of our modern spoiling analysis, but in historical terms, so were we and so would our children be. But when does spoiling cross the line? At what point does a little spoiling and protecting of children go too far and risk doing real damage?