福克斯新闻 孩子想要的圣诞礼物太贵怎么办

Fox on Family. The holiday season can put parents under pressure, not knowing if Santa can deliver the top of the wishlist.

Sometimes it's just too expensive: "Really this is the perfect time to have a discussion of values with our kids."

Author and father of three, Andrew Whitman, says for older kids, be honest about financial priorities¹: "And then, if it's really something they want, come up with a plan to execute getting it. Starting with them saving their money and then figuring out ways to earn money to get it later on down the road."

And if it's something that you don't want them to have yet: "Just tell them straight up, 'Hey, you're not ready for that yet.' But give them benchmarks to look forward to... Right?

And I'm going to set up intermediary gifts until they reach that maturity² level to handle it."

Now, for younger kids, similar might be close enough: "Whatever they think they've got to have right now, they get distracted³ with the newest greatest thing, if you put it in front of them, they're going to love it."

Wittman also says kids act how we act, by dreaming big and being grateful for whatever we have.

With FOX on Family, I'm Lisa Brady.

欢迎收听《福克斯家庭新闻》。

圣诞佳节也能给父母们带来压力，如果他们不知道圣诞老人是否能够实现孩子的愿望清单上最前面的那个愿望的时候。

有时候，那个愿望实在是太贵了:“这个时候其实也是家长和孩子讨论价值观的最佳时机。”

作家兼三个孩子的父亲安德鲁·惠特曼说，对于大一点的孩子，家长可以坦白地跟他们讲家庭财务要分轻重缓急:

“如果那个东西他们真的是特别特别想要的话，可以制定一个计划一步一步地去实现。从让他们自己存钱开始，然后想办法赚剩下的钱，等到钱攒够了再买。”如果他们想要但你觉得并不适合他们的年龄时：

“直接坦白地告诉他们，‘听着，你还没到买那个的年龄。’

但同时也要给他们定个能买的年龄，让他们心里有个期盼……对吧？

我还会安排一些过渡式的礼物，直到他们足够成熟能够拥有那些礼物位置。”

接下来，针对更小一些的孩子，给他们买类似的礼物差不多就足够了：

“不管他们觉得他们当时多想要那个礼物，

在看到最新最棒的东西时他们还是会转移注意力，

所以，只要你把那个礼物放到他们面前，他们就会喜欢的。”

惠特曼还说，孩子们会模仿我们的行为方式，比如拥有远大的梦想，对现状心怀感激。

感谢您收听《福克斯家庭新闻》，我是丽萨·布莱迪。

1 priorities   

n.先( priority的名词复数 )；优先；优先权；优先考虑的事

参考例句：

• The document provided a revealing insight into the government's priorities. 这份文件使人看出政府的轻重缓急是怎样安排的。
• We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. 我们必须共同努力，只为最重要的项目提供资金。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

3 distracted   

a.注意力分散的，思想不集中的

参考例句：

• When working, one should concentrate and not allow oneself to be distracted. 工作时要集中精力，不要分心。
• Noise outside distracted her mind from her studies. 门外的噪音使她心神不宁，无法集中注意力学习。