Parenting is an incredibly rewarding and challenging experience. As parents, we all want what is best for our children. However, many parents fall into the trap of overindulging their kids, giving them more than they need to thrive. While these parents may have the best intentions, they may end up hindering their children’s development.
The idea of parenting with a bit of scarcity is known as the “hungry mice effect.”
Children who are raised with a bit of scarcity tend to have a stronger will to succeed
The hungry mice effect was described by American scientist Chris McKay in a surprising experiment. McKay divided newborn mice into two groups. The first group was fed a full diet every day and lived for about 1,000 days. The second group was fed about 60% of a full diet, were often hungry, but lived for about 2,000 days. This study, known as the “hungry mice effect,” shocked many parents. The research suggested that when children are raised in abundance, they may lack the motivation to strive, while the underfed mice in group two had a will to survive. This aligns with the saying, “Eat only until you are 70% full, drink only until you are 30% satisfied, and treat others with 80% kindness.”
As a result, many people believe that incorporating the hungry mice effect into parenting can help children develop a stronger drive and have a brighter future.
What happens to mice that are always well-fed?
In today’s world, many people live very convenient and abundant lives. However, this can also lead to a lack of motivation. For example, we now have many modern technological devices that assist us.
Even when going to the bathroom, we bring our phones to watch videos. When brushing our teeth or washing our faces, we place our phones nearby. Before going to bed, we text and browse the web. If we have any free time, we spend it on our phones until the battery dies.
All of our spare time, no matter how small, is filled with our phones.
However, what do we gain after wasting our free time? Irritability, complaints, frustration, jealousy, anxiety, fatigue, and body aches. The more we use our phones, the more our physical health deteriorates and our mental health becomes exhausted.
Returning to children today, many are overindulged by their parents. Some children do not have to lift a finger, and it seems that their only responsibility in life is to study. However, the academic performance of these children is not always good.
Many parents also assume that their children only need to excel in their studies, and they will take care of everything else. As a result, many parents even feed their children when they are in elementary school and are willing to meet their children’s every need, as long as they perform well academically. On weekends, children are expected to take extra classes to keep up with their peers. Parents do not want their children to fall behind from the starting line, so they push them to study all week. However, children often resent having their studies micromanaged by their parents, and when they are given too much, they lose their motivation to work hard.
Some parents even prepare a large sum of money for their children to start their own businesses, so they do not have to worry about money.
Will children raised in this way become successful or promising individuals? In reality, children will become dependent on their parents, unable to find meaning in life or appreciate the value of hard work.
What is the future of “hungry mice”?
Humans tend to strive for things they do not have or are close to obtaining. Therefore, children who do not have a life of abundance, if encouraged by their parents, will learn to rise to the occasion to achieve their desires. If you let your children live a life that is not perfect, or even a little scarce, it will be good for their future.
Therefore, parents should not meet their children’s every need; let them experience a sense of scarcity so they can be happy when they achieve something. The most important thing is that children need to learn how to earn their own money through hard work.
Poverty is also a form of education. Money is only valued when it is hard to earn, and this is true for both adults and children. Therefore, parents should not give their children too much money, or they will spend it freely and squander the family fortune.
Parents should not make their children suffer, but they also should not let their children think that everything in life is easy to obtain or that they can get it from their parents if they don’t. When parents are not overly protective, their children will grow up to be more mature.
Look at a baby deer, which is kicked and prodded by its mother as soon as it is born, forcing it to stand up. This is because there are tigers and leopards lurking nearby, and if the deer cannot run, it will become prey.
When parents allow their children to become independent, they will grow up to be more mature. A child who is given regular food, dressed in simple clothes, and does not carry too much money is good for the child’s development. People who are not satisfied with life will always pursue satisfaction and continue to grow. Of course, providing children with a little scarcity must be accompanied by guidance and education, and not by a cruel neglect of the child.
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