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Entitled parents often raise entitled kids.
There’s no shortage of entitled people in our society today. Those with a sense of entitlement tend to believe that they deserve only good things and special treatment, and therefore demand it from everyone.
But while many parents are rightfully concerned with how to avoid raising entitled children, it’s also important to examine whether they model this kind of negative behavior. Failing to realize the impact that entitled conduct in caregivers can have on kids may carry deep consequences in their later lives.
Below, experts share some of the ways having entitled parents can affect children as they grow up.
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Parents generally strive to avoid raising entitled children. But that doesn’t mean they won’t fall into that category themselves.
“An entitled parent is a ‘Karent’!” author and The Parenting Mentor founder Susan Groner told HuffPost, sharing a play on the term “Karen,” which has come to evoke pushy people, usually white women, who are rarely satisfied and often demand to speak to managers.
Groner noted that many child-rearers among us believe they and their families deserve special treatment, favors, and anything they deem the “best” because they are somehow superior to others by virtue of their economic or social position ― or “just because.”
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Hearing your child say “I hate you!” for the first time can be a shocking and upsetting experience for a parent.
“When coming from a child in whom there is generally a love-based relationship, ‘I hate you’ is a normal part of emotional and psychological development,” said psychotherapist Noel McDermott. “How parents deal with it models for the child how difficult emotions are managed. If we can learn that I can ‘hate you’ and continue to love you, we are learning some very healthy lessons.”
So how exactly should parents approach hearing “I hate you” from one of their children? Below, McDermott and other experts share their advice.