Entitlemania: How Not to Spoil Your Kids and What to Do If You Have

by Richard C. Watts

For everything you give your child, you take something away.
ENTITLEMANIA IS AN EPIDEMIC. Well-intentioned parents across the country are enabling a ''me'' generation of children who lack the wisdom and satisfaction of accomplishment that only struggle and adversity can bring.

As a veteran advisor and legal counsel to America's most successful families, Richard Watts has seen the extremes of entitlement up close and wants to help you avoid creating it in your own children. Entitlemania will teach you how to redirect kids and repair adults who believe the world owes them something. Your greatest challenge may be learning to control your own actions!

Entitlemania will provide practical strategies like creating boundaries, walking your talk, and allowing children to fend for themselves. A groundbreaking book that sheds important light on an increasingly pervasive social trend affecting children at every age—and at every income bracket! The big takeaway for You may have to let your children fail so they can learn how to succeed.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

202 pages, Paperback

Published January 3, 2017

About the author

As personal advisor and legal counsel to the super wealthy, Richard Watts is called on to counsel his clients on some of the most intimate decisions they have to make. He spends his workdays within the castle walls of America’s most successful families.

Richard studied economics at University of California at San Diego, Earl Warren College, and was admitted to practice law in California in 1982. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

His primary passion is conveying the wisdoms of life through his practice, lectures, and writings.

Richard and his wife, Debbie, live in Laguna Beach, California, in the neighborhood of their three boys: Aaron, Todd, and Russell; two daughters by marriage Rene and Stephanie; and his three extra-special grandchildren, Maclane, Lucy, and Chandler.

You can also find Richard surfing at San Onofre, golfing at Santa Ana Country Club, or sitting in a local coffee shop with friends, talking about subjects that really matter.

Reviews

[Julia Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and how relatable it is! Thank you Richard for sharing your own experiences with the "entitlemania" epidemic and offering strategies to help combat it!

[Julia Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter what stage of parenting you are in, "Entitlemania" will equip you with the parenting strategies to combat entitlement issues in your own children. Richard Watts uses his personal experiences as a father, grandfather, and personal advisor of the super wealthy to illustrate the issues surrounding the entitlemania epidemic. Richard Watts points out that often times it is a parent's actions that lead to such problems. Thank you Richard for opening my eyes and giving me a new perspective on parenting and life!

[Launchingstars · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you plan on having kids, have kids, have grown kids, are grandparents, or God Parents this is a must read and a great way to idenitfy what a spoiled kid looks like now and what the problems are later, what to expect and how to fix it if necessary.
Richard Watts is a great writter full of very entertaining stories of great and terrible parentling. Also he dolls out many ideas of how to have great fun with your kids without spoiling them

[Veselin Nikolov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Открих доста неща, които съм получил наготово, докато съм израствал.
Примерите с житейски ситуации ми бяха много полезни. Времевия мащаб на примерите за развитието на животи на различни хора беше върха.
Главата с християнството не ми беше по вкуса, просто добавете каквато и да е вяра и/или морални ценности на това място.

[Amanda Rasmussen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agree with the theme and concepts of this book but almost gave it two stars because there just isn’t much there. The whole book is a compilation of anecdotal stories, which are good but kind of obvious examples. I feel like this book focused way too much on presenting the bad outcomes of entitled children and talked a lot about what happens when the children become adults and it’s too late. I was hoping it would have focused on the children when they are younger and getting them off to a good start. All of the advice is very broad and generic. I was hoping for more specifics and action oriented advice.
To sum up what the book teaches: don’t give your kids everything, let them struggle and fail, don’t let them work in the family business, and don’t give them your money.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parental Awareness

Sound advice on how parenting decisions affect children. Some wasn't relevant to my personal income level, but a good read for anyone who is looking to learn more about the roots of entitlement. Spoiler - you.

[Louie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book about parenting children so they won't be entitled. I agree with most points (about 90%) but don't agree that you should leave your kids with nothing. Book is not universal, because Asian culture is very different from American culture. Still a really good read though.

[geo dad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read several parenting books recently. This was my favorite. It’s straight forward advice that most modern parents should hear. Kids need support and challenges not money and things. You may be making them entitled and not realize it. Check out the book at your library, it’s great.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wise financial and behavioral counsel.

“For everything you give your child, you take something away.”

[Tom Dougherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening

It showed me the bar habits I need to fix before my daughter becomes old enough to learn them- as well as some actions/ "mistakes" I can see ocurrence around me.

[Kristine Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good material but lacked cohesion. Seemed like a series of anecdotal stories.

[Daniel Bak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read. Author recounts numerous short stories of children that have

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written in Do or Don't sections. Informative chapters and interesting read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book mainly for fun stories of entitled rich kids, and it did not disappoint! This book isn't super long, but some parts were much more interesting than others. I particularly enjoyed Mr. Watts' description of kids after their parents passed on. It was both horrifying and entertaining.