Just when you thought it all ended up in a cash register in the mall...

While buying a car is still big on the wish list for teenagers so too is "honoring thy father and mother." A total of 93% of teenagers say they would buy a gift for their parents if they won 100,000 bucks. That was the most agreed upon expenditure of the cash. Perhaps they are covering their bases or perhaps such generosity stems from that first day in kindergarten when said child presents that first original piece of art on the ride home from school. So pleased is the parent with their offering that the gift lives in perpetuity on the fridge until they graduate from high school. A parent's gratitude becomes foundational for reinforcing the act of giving. You have shown them the biblical truth that "where your treasure is there is your heart also."

It is easier when they are guileless to teach and treasure them and much more difficult when all sense of gratitude is absorbed by the changes and chances of emerging personhood and the culture endemic in the hallways of their schools. Somewhere underneath it all these young people are not ungrateful little wretches who lose sight of how hard you work to put a roof over their heads and educate them. They are more than offspring who stand at the door with their hands held out cursing you when you wonÕt purchase what they demand. They are still those children who brought you the picture on that first day of school, and they are still children seeking validation for who and what they are becoming. Perhaps the 93% who want to give a gift to their parents says something about where their treasure is not their treasury...and where their hearts are also.

If I were rich You might think that all teenagers care about is what they wear and what they drive, but a recent survey suggests otherwise. When asked, "What would you do if you won $100,000?", an astounding 93% of American teenagers said they would buy a gift for their parents. Here's what else they would spend their cash on: New car 67% Vacation 63% College 55% Charity 45% (Source: Impulse Research for Tombstone, quoted in USA Today)

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