Restraint- Valuable Lesson

As I am reading Unequal Childhoods by Lareau, I am becoming more and more thankful that I grew up poor, and when I have children, I don't want to raise them by middle-class standards. I can relate to many things in the book, with regards to Harold McAllisters childhood. The author says Harold's restraint in asking his parents for materialistic items is "disconcerting". I don't agree with this, I think what is disconcerting is the middle class children who think "ask and get". These parents are quick to give in to their child, maybe so that they don't have to feel bad or hear them whine. As a child, I can remember times when I did ask for things, and my mother would say light hardly but serious " We can't afford it". After a few times, I realized we couldn't afford it, and stopped asking. Til this day, my mother and I say it together when thinking of certain luxuries, "We can't afford it." It reminds us of the times that were very hard and that we can be content without the luxuries. Being content is one thing that I think middle class children lack when compared to working-class and poor children. At some point no matter how rich you become, the ability to be content in life is imperative to be happy. Maybe it's my poor upbringing and maybe I am a product of the pedagogy of poverty, but I think the fall of our country is the parents who allow their children to speak as equals. There should be respect for parents, money, and the household. Restraint is an important lesson to learn. Without it, survival in todays economy could be rough. If parents give into every whim of their child, they are not teaching them self-control and restraint (or the value of a dollar), I wonder if they even do chores. Parenting strategies have changed drastically and the middle class society is raising our future generations to think they get everything they want... and to think that they deserve it too, isn't that called spoiled. The parents who allow these behaviors are creating "monsters" because it is easier to spend the few dollars than teach a valuable lesson on restraint.