Deprivation

Our kids are deprived. Just ask them. Kennedy's friend gets new shoes every grading period (six weeks), all the kid's friends buy lunch at school everyday, we do not pack fun lunches (aka crap), we do not let them get chocolate or strawberry milk at school and the list goes on. As rewards for really good weeks at school or special achievements, we will allow them to buy an occassional school lunch or get flavored milk. To me this is more of a punishment than a reward but our kids love it and work towards it. Our kid's idea of a fun time is eating dinner on the floor on a blanket (indoor picnic) and watching a disney movie they have seen repeatedly. This we refer to as our family fun night (takes place every Friday) and our kids look forward to it all week. They are not allowed to watch tv during the week so it is a big time. We set low expectations. They are not disappointed when the bar is low. The deprivation sometimes stems out of health reasons (ie school lunches) or sometimes budgeting (ie family fun night) but what has come out of it is our kids really get excited about small things. They scream like they have won the lottery when I tell them they can get chocolate milk at school. Please understand that our kids are spoiled in many ways. Christmas and birthdays tend to be a little indulgent but in the day to day they are not.
Here is what happened that led to this post. I was making Ben's lunch and he wanted more yogurt. I told him he could have more. He jumped up and down, gave me a huge hug and said "Mom, you are really hooking me up". I love low expectations.