My parents went through the war. It had it's effects on the - the fear, the loss of loved ones, the shortages and the rationing and the general lack of material stuff. It has it's effect on us. DB and I were brought up with make do and mend, hand me downs, home-made and home-grown. My parents (and us when old enough to help) did/fixed/grew/made everything they could. They rarely paid anyone to do anything if they could avoid it - not because it was a hobby or a bit of fun, but because they couldn't afford not to. I grew up self-contained, quiet, naive no particular sense of entitlement at all, expectations were fairly meagre TBH.
For many years I thought that was a good thing. I wanted my children to be the same.
But the older my children become, the more I realise they are not like me. And neither are their generation in general. They are expansive, confident, physically assured, street-wise. I generalise of course but that does seem to be more the case amongst the children I know than was when I was a child.
My children, and their friends, have a lot more than I did - in terms of possessions and opportunities - but rather than just bewailing this fact (that seems to have come about despite our best efforts ) I am beginning to think it's a good thing. Children who talk to adults as equals, who are confident enough to be polite but not obsequious, who know what they want and what they can expect.
Is that good? I think it might be.