Comparing Myself to My Kids

I get annoyed with my kids, who have so much in terms of opportunities and comforts, not to mention things, when they gripe about having to do without something they want, or having to do something they don't want to do.

Compared to my childhood, they're living like royalty! I got two pairs of shoes a year -- sandals for summer and saddle shoes for winter. One coat. Toys at Christmas and birthdays, not just whenever the hell we felt like it. I had it better than many many kids, of course, but we had no margins. Often, truly, we couldn't buy groceries till payday; sometimes that'd start four of five days before payday. We couldn't use a band-aid unless we were bleeding.

So when they complain, I think "how can they complain when they've got it so good?"

But oh yeah, I just remembered. I complained about every single thing I had to do without too. It seemed natural to me that we didn't have all the stuff other kids had, but still, I griped! I'd forgotten that. And my parents used to tell me how little they'd had too. I wonder if they remember that they used to gripe too?