generation alpha….

so the generation K Dogg is part of are set to be the most technologically savvy, formally educated and materialistic generation ever…better start saving now. I don’t want to sound like the old duck bemoaning how much things have changed since I was a child cause my dad still tells the story of how he would ride home in his undies – of course he calls them reg grundies – in the snow with his school uniform rolled up in his bag so it didn’t get wet. or the story of how the ice would get delivered to their house for their ice box, they were one of the first families to have one and the ice truck would pull up and the guys would deliver the block of ice into the ice box…you didn’t need to be home cause you left the house unlocked. a bit like the milk man who would use a milk jigger to fill the bottles you had left on your front porch – that was after he had taken the money for the milk out of the bottles. and yes that milk would sit there, on your porch, unrefrigerated, until you got home. how things have definitely changed. my besty and I were having a discussion about home heating yesterday because we were comparing our gas bills that seem to have gone through the roof. we are both the same age and are part of gen x so we share the same stories about our childhood and similar views on many topics. so we were talking about the whole gas price hike and how our cost per unit has more than doubled in 12 months blah blah. in the end we both decided that blankets and slippers were a far cheaper option. we had gotten used to putting the fire on to make it comfortable in the house and then we can walk around in tee shirts and bare feet….well no more…until K Dogg gets old enough to start wielding her power in the house due to being an only child and one born into what is shaping up to be the most indulged generations of all time. it’s a fine line we will walk in the future between providing for our daughter’s needs and keeping up with the cool kids so she doesn’t get left behind or bullied. the reality for us though is that providing for her needs may well be the latest phone at a very young age which just doesn’t seem right, not much has changed in the way that people behave it’s just the “things” that have changed. I went to school with a girl whose parents gave her whatever she desired. to me they were “rich” and they had all the gadgets as soon as they were available…microwave, soda stream, video player, sports cars and more, they had it all. so this girl had everything and I had a serious case of friend envy. she was the coolest girl in school and could make you cool or make you miserable and you didn’t get any warning as to which one it would be on any given day. she still exists today but instead of having the coolest trainers or the latest sony walkman she has the iPhone 5 hot off the shelves, an iPad, tattoo’s and she can still make you cool or miserable but nowadays you find out about it through facebook. apparently home schooling is going to become very popular with parents of generation alpha kids because they don’t want their children exposed to it all, but what can you do? eventually they will be exposed to the world and all its beauty as well as the very ugly so maybe it’s the “five p’s” in action once again to help get through it – in our case the prior planning will be to get K Dogg a bank account and start squirreling money into it so that when she does have a want or a need we have the means…