Yes! Same over here in Petworth. |
Yes of course. It’s how I was raised and where I feel comfortable. I have no interest in witnessing “real America”. |
Or move into DC. I live in the city and there are very few people like this in my neighborhood. |
This is us, too, but there can be stealth competition in this lifestyle. Like this PP might be totally chill. But she could also be weirdly competitive about how her kids immersion or montessori charter is better than wherever your kids go, or how they're more environmentally conscious because they metro everywhere, or brag endlessly about they would NEVER do Disney because it's so corporate but they had an amazing time on their 10 day camping trip in the Alps last summer. I've met people who seemed down to earth like this but I think this area has so many type A, personally competitive people that even if you get away from the really overt, hyper-materislistic people, you still sometimes encounter one-upsmanship and other competitive behaviors. And yes, of course there are people like this everywhere. But I've lived a lot of places and there are more people like this here than in places in "fly over country" where people's expectations for themselves and other people tend to be lower. |
My friend was raised in Greenwich and wouldn’t move back for anything. |
There’s a difference between being competitive and just being insecure. I find lots of people who choose to raise families in DC public schools to be generally less insecure because they are already making choices that insecure people would never make. |
Wow, hard disagree, I see a TON of insecurity in DC public school families, especially the ones who don't have access to "well regarded" inbound schools. Either they go the charter route, where there's lots of insecurity about which charter is best, as well as these arguments (on DCUM yes but people talk about this IRL too) about test scores relative to socioecomic status of families. Or they attend their IB which might be Title 1 or have pretty atrocious test scores, and there's tons of insecurity there that can manifest as "well I'm a better person than you because I invest in my neighborhood school" or this pity party "whyyyyy don't we have any lottery luck and why is our school so weak." The lottery and the unevenness of schools in DC creates winners and losers and that absolutely leads to insecure, competitive behavior in both groups. I'm sure the rich folks at privates or the really well funded suburban publics are insecure in their own way, but I observe endless insecurity in the DC public school parents I meet (we are a DC public school family). |
Do you have any sense of right/wrong or is selfishness the expectation in your family? I would rather raise kind and humble kids who do not work to become elitist snobs. Inequality will be the downfall of our entire society and credentials will not insulate anyone from the consequences. We are all in this together whether you like it or not. An Ivy education doesn’t seem to impart wisdom. |
Case in point that bimbo’ Brooke’s errand boy |
No. We’re raising our kids in a middle class area and they attend an urban and socioeconomicly diverse public school. They did private for elementary plus lots of supplemental work at home with us. But in public middle/high school, there are so many fantastic yet underutilized opportunities for them. They can be captain of their sports team, president of their class, join and/or start any student club, start a new sport and play varsity level, attend specialty rigorous academic programs…the list goes on. Low competition and high yield of amazing opportunities to be had.
In comparison to the kids of friends and and family that live in high income areas and kids attend the top schools in the state: competition is cut throat for any accelerated academic programs and many many deserving and capable don’t get spots, same with varsity sports, the good music teachers, etc. Every single leadership, sports, or academic opportunity is flooded with kids competing for it. And to be quite honest, the academic advancements available to my children are much better than since it is highly supported by the community and focused on the quality |
Ok? What's your point? I understand statistics, thanks. The point is that the person saying they moved to Loudon County and are then shocked that they're surrounded by strivers missed the memo that that's exactly the kind of person who lives in Loudon County. |
What is this insecurity that you are referencing? DH and I are both ivy educated. We have a HHI of $2-3m. Our kids get good grades, play sports, dance, do scouts, have friends from similar backgrounds. My kids are loved and happy. I am not in competition with other moms or kids. My kids are good at almost everything and have lots of friends. |
Yes you keep repeating this over and over |
It probably only feels over competitive if your kids cannot keep up. We live in McLean where it feels like everyone is smart and talented. There are plenty of kids who are average but would probably be above average in other areas. I used to say that I hated how competitive this area was. I wanted my kids to be able to get perfect grades and be at the top of the class with no effort. I wanted them to be able to walk on sports teams with no skills. My kids are all strong students and they work for it. There are some kids who are just super smart and that is ok too. I don’t feel competitive to know them. I think it is positive for my kids to be exposed to greatness.
My kids have had tons of play dates, vacations, gone to fun school events. There is no shortage of fun. They have a well rounded life. Do they wander around aimlessly and do nothing? No. |
I’m responding to someone’s post on a forum. We know people in different economic ranges even within our affluent community. Some people come from family money. Many are well educated and self made. Lots of international money. I actually find that we are surrounded by confident people, not insecure ones like the pp is suggesting. I have heard your zip code matters most in determining your adult success. My kids are surrounded by people who are successful. You cannot live in a $3m house by being a slacker. |