“If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things”.  (Novelist Norman Douglas, quoted on Forbes.com)

Bon mot.  Some children are showered with gifts of all kinds, and, by the way, are seldom made to even text a “thank you”, let alone write a letter.  I have noticed that the spoiled kids are generally the most grumpy and the least happy.  Mankind needs things to work for, a sense of schievment, however small.  Age is irrelevant to this general rule.

Sensible parents are sparing with their gifts, and make special privileges dependent on carrying out jobs in the house, or anything that indicates reward for effort.  They don’t have to excel, just be conscientious and reliable. When they are teenagers they might be encouraged to deliver newspapers or something similar, to give them an idea what it it is like working for money.  Simply giving it in return for nothing  is actually damaging.