Entitlement?

Another month has flown by! As Mi Families continues to build up clients and consultation gigs we are trying to keep up with articles and video posts, but we may need to bring in the troops to keep up with demands! Over the past couple months I mentioned my husband’s unexpected job-loss and how I picked up some extra jobs to help meet our families needs.  Keeping up with meetings, events and trainings kept me busy enough – but I decided to help Mi Families grow even quicker by adding on program options for our clients. I finished my certification as an ABA technician and as programs for children with special needs are being developed, I will also be working for the Autism Center of Northern Michigan AND helping Mother Goose Time create curriculums (while continuing to create them for Mi Families educational programs as well).

Yes my schedule is crazy busy, but sometimes we need to keep busy to survive.  Sometimes we need to work hard to pay the bills, buy groceries, afford propane for our homes and gas for our cars… Life is expensive. When you are able to meet those needs and provide for those you love it feels good! But in a world where so many people feel entitled how do you help them find the drive to work hard? In the last article we talked about such teachable tools, but maybe we should have discussed the reason behind the entitled feelings?  I don’t have all the answers and I don’t have time to research them today (as I said I have a crazy schedule) but I did observe something interesting this week regarding entitlement.  I observed that MOST people DON’T feel entitled to beyond their basic needs.

http://childrenstherapycorner.com/

Because of my husband’s job loss we also lost our insurance.  Since our kids obtain speech, occupational and physical therapy insurance is a need.  We cannot afford such services, but want our children to continue thriving.  As discussed in a past article some programs are available for free through your local school district.  Even homeschooling we have utilized what we could, but some needs are best met through a specific “insurance paid” provider.  To continue services we looked into all options.  No matter your stance on “Obama care” / “Affordable Care Act” … Medicaid … etc, I hope you agree that no child should be denied care.  When the online applications got complicated and I had to sit in the waiting room at DHS I noted that MOST people waiting were asking for nothing more than assistance for meeting such needs.  What I also noticed was how degrading, belittling and RUDE the employees were at our local office.  I am not saying every employee there was awful, there are some very caring people who work hard helping those in need.  BUT many workers were just mean!  I’m sure they have heard / seen it all, I’m sure they are tired and burnt out – I know because I’ve worked in their shoes! BUT when someone comes to ask for help they are often feeling helpless.

http://www.mifamilies.com/important-contacts/crisis-connections

Providers working with kids and families are often given resources of where to send parents when they ask for assistance.  Providers send those parents to an office assuming someone there will help them meet requested needs.  Too often parents leave those offices upset by how they were treated and embarrassed that they still are not able to meet the needs of their family. They stop asking for help and get angry at the system and a sense of entitlement grows on that end.  On the other end of the community is the family who is not worried about those basic needs, but sends their teen off to start earning some spending money.  That teen is who I was working with during the last article.  That teen felt entitled to cash for wants – not needs – and his feeling of entitlement developed from a different world.  So we’re back to the question of where his sense of entitlement development and how to teach that drive of accomplishment and pride? A drive for gratitude and a THANKFUL heart (tis’ the season). No judgments, just something to consider with hopes that a community can learn to work together to meet each others basic needs through a future hard-working team.

whats gonna work? TEAM WORK

A sense of team is an important piece of that puzzle and our future work force, and voters voice, depends on the teams that our children grow up on.  Sports teams, school teams, employment teams … but most importantly our family team.  Mi Families offers team builder challenges for all those teams – uniquely designed and highly referred from those who have utilized our programs.  Every type of business, childcare, school, church … every type of home (nuclear, non traditional, blended, adoptive families … foster homes, grandparent led homes, teen parents, single parents, special needs groups…) – our approach will help team members develop super powers and discover side-kicks they can depend on.  Side-kicks include resource assistance for meeting basic needs to defining goals, routines and creating a “chaos to calm” environment.  If you are curious about our team builders or any other of our programs please contact me at Christi@MiFamilies.com. If you are curious if I use such programs with my own family the answer is yes! Using the tools in our home has helped us keep life predictable for our own kids while we balance crazy schedules and different shifts of dad taking over most homeschool duties.  Establishing routines and goals has helped our kids transition to family changes and given them a sense of place within our family team.  Even at only 6&8 years of age our boys help with the family chores and feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in completing their house work and home work and understand that although they are entitled to their basic needs being met – they have to work for those extras.