Some people just express themselves this way — I admit, I’m prone to getting my feelings hurt by it (a friend who frequently spoke like this about our outings would receive fewer invitations from me), but part of parenting is that kids need to individuate and find harmless forms of rebellion. If you quash those, they may find ones that are less benign than a “meh.”
It seems like the kids are capable of having fun and being gracious/grateful in the moment (like at the beach), but they feel the need to downplay it after the fact.
Mom took the kids to the beach without Dad — are they parenting separately? That might be part of it — not wanting Dad to feel bad, or trying to get extra privileges from him, or some other issue where over-praising time with Mom rebounds negatively.
They may be privileged, ungrateful little boogers, who knows — but giving this behavior a lot of attention is likely to backfire.
My suggestion would be to keep modeling positive language, gratitude, and polite behavior (focus any crackdowns on actual RUDENESS, not just inadequate enthusiasm), and hopefully they’ll grow out of it.
no subject
It seems like the kids are capable of having fun and being gracious/grateful in the moment (like at the beach), but they feel the need to downplay it after the fact.
Mom took the kids to the beach without Dad — are they parenting separately? That might be part of it — not wanting Dad to feel bad, or trying to get extra privileges from him, or some other issue where over-praising time with Mom rebounds negatively.
They may be privileged, ungrateful little boogers, who knows — but giving this behavior a lot of attention is likely to backfire.
My suggestion would be to keep modeling positive language, gratitude, and polite behavior (focus any crackdowns on actual RUDENESS, not just inadequate enthusiasm), and hopefully they’ll grow out of it.