I want to come back as one of my kids!

Has anyone else in the Boomer generation noticed the incredible opportunities available for our Gen Yers? Have you heard what some of these kids have gotten to do? Maybe your own have done some neat things!? Please don't misunderstand, I had a terrific upbringing with all kinds of great adventures along the way (both educational and experiential) but our kids, these days, have it pretty darn great! When else do they have a chance to try different things out? No mortgage to pay. No mouths to feed except theirs. No real responsibilities. (Except, maybe they've got loans to pay back.) And best of all, Mom and Dad are picking up the tab, or at least a portion of it. Sound familiar? These Gen Y kids have got the "marketing" thing down, they sure do know how to spin / persuade us that it's OK to do these things!

From language immersion programs in Italy, to volunteer opportunities in Costa Rica, to playing soccer in Amsterdam...to living on a Kibbutz, to building a violin in England, to competitively skiing in the summer in Oregon...to building reef balls on Eleuthera, marine biology in the Galapagos, summer school in New Zealand...the list goes on and on!

OK, OK, maybe there's been some adjustment in the last year due to our economy, but not much. I've read several articles related to this topic and because kids are having a tough time finding jobs or internships, these programs are hanging in there. Our kids have convinced us that if they can't find summer employment or a permanent job, then these things are "great for the resume" or "this will really broaden my perspective", whatever, loads of us are buying into this, or even suggesting this! These opportunities have been available for years and lots of our kids have been able to take advantage of them. I know mine have. They've had some incredible experiences! I, of course, am totally envious and thus the title of this blog post.

I've had numerous conversations lately with friends that have Gen Y kids and each of us are having to have "reality talks" with our kids. Especially those kids that have recently graduated from college and they're trying to figure out what they're going to do with their life. Some's approach is much like it was while in college, find a program or research a trip online and figure, "this is it! Mom and Dad will definitely go for this." And then reality sets in or "the talk" happens, who's going to pay for this? Or maybe, who's going to pay for this to continue? Maybe the summer between soph. and junior year, but now? as a recent college grad?
A couple of my favorite comments by friends were:
"I've told my son he'd better find an insurance salesman and ask him if he sells 'status quo insurance' and buy a boat load of it!" ~a Dad.
"I've told my kids by 30 they need to have a real job with benefits and a 401k, because the gravy train will be over! This train will be traveling a different track!" ~a Mom

Reality. Sometimes a tough thing. But the experiences these kids are having before "getting there", pretty incredible! And I must admit, these experiences have indeed broadened their horizons, heck, I want to go to New Zealand! :)

~Beppie