"Chookie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:

My friend was in the post office one day when a new resident (who has
bought on larger acreage) was complaining that she was having to buy a
tankful of house water (5,000 litres) every 10 days. My friend asked
her what one earth she was doing with the water. Her response was
that she had 3 teenage children and they didn't understand the need
for short showers.

That's nothing to do with citified people -- that's the result of Baby
Boomer
grandparents.

I've noticed a huge gulf in parenting styles in Generation X, and it
divides
very neatly on when the Gen-Xers' parents were born. Gen-Xers whose
parents
were Battler Generation (born before WWII) have a rather no-nonsense
approach,
allow their children to fail, have boundaries, like 'natural consequences'
etc. That would be people like me and my DH. Interestingly, a rather
large
proportion of our friends were raised by Battlers too, so I think there
must
be a common mindset that we all share. We don't parent identically by any
means, but there are a few common themes.

Gen-Xers with Boomer parents, OTOH, have been indulged, so they have no
idea
what to do with their children except cater to their every whim and --
very
importantly -- protect them from disappointment and other negative
emotions (that's their concept of 'emotional support'). I suppose that
is true of the
tail-end Boomers who are still parenting atm too. In fact, I would be
interested to see if Gen-Xers with Boomer parents are more likely to own
4WDs
in the city than Gen-Xers with Battler parents. Ditto for the wasteful
eaveless Tuscanised mansions, "home theatre systems" and all the other
markers
of conspicuous consumption. I am already guessing that Gen-Xers with
Boomer
parents are the ones threatening soccer coaches all over Australia and
indulging in road rage.

The difference between the two groups is the amount of emphasis placed on
Self
vs Community. The Boomers left all the institutions -- churches,
political
parties, community groups of all kinds -- because of their strong desire
for
individualism. Unfortunately that leaves you paying attention to nothing
but
Self in the end.

I have cross-posted because I think aus.family might have something to
add.

it's an interesting theory - the only problem i can find with it is that i
think it doesn't pan out in reality :-) i'd have to think about that more to
be sure where i stand on it, but as a 36y.o. child of baby boomers (dh is 38
& also the child of boomers), it certainly doesn't work in our house, &
thinking of people i know, it doesn't seem to work there either.

don't get me wrong - i'm as happy to bag out baby boomers as the next person
g. but it's unkind to think that all boomers are the same when they're
clearly not and when you do statistical breakdowns on parenting styles of
the boomers it won't work out either, i don't think.

my parents were always broke when we were growing up - do you think that
might be the real key? privilege vs lack thereof?

having said that, my own parents (now divorced) are both well-off (now), but
my dad's a mad spendthrift & my mum's as tight as a fish's bum (it was ever
thus). it's personality difference. they're almost the same age. it's not a
"boomer" thing or a generational thing when they're simply so different as
people.

am i taking your generalisation too literally?
kylie --- the idea i was "indulged" is frankly laughable :-)