Meaning:
The power children have, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents
to buy advertised or fashionable items.
Background:
This phrase emerged in the USA in the late 1970s; for example, this from The
Washington Post, February 1979:
"`They (the children) use all the pester power they can muster' to talk
their parents into purchases, a narrator warned."
Children have long been able to influence what their parents bought on their
behalf, by making it easier for the parents to give in than to endure
relentless badgering. The fact that this wasn't a significant enough
phenomenon to be given a name until the late 20th century is indicative of
the changing nature of child/parent relationships in western societies.
Parents are now more likely to take a child's demands seriously, whereas in
earlier times they were expected to be content with whatever they were given.
Also, the increased pressure on parents to work longer hours has led to a
society that in increasingly cash rich and time poor, which makes it a more
attractive option to buy their way out of the time-consuming task of fending
off demands.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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Since very young my boy doesn't bug me for anything as if unaware of his
birthright pester power as an only child or because, God forbid, he has too much
pride.
Or maybe it is a sign of the times because I remember nagging my parents from
time to time for tasty treats in that era of scarcity. I suspected that, besides
showing love, adults gain face and self-respect when they relent.
These days, we are relatively well-off but the lad rarely feeds my vanity of
trivial giving and taking away. I drive him and make supper but it feels like I
am only doing my bit for a relay team of countless generations after passing on
the gene. I have to pay extra attention to hone in on his needs.
He started weight-lifting in the 12th grade and I thought he needed protein and
stocked up on beef. Within a month, he came back from rib-eye to my plain fare.
I hope I haven't shoot ourselves in the foot and killed his pursuit of physical
strength.
