Private school parent small talk in December: EVERYONE bragging about upcoming ritzy trips

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every and I mean every rich classmate of my daughter’s has ALREADY posted detailed photos on instagram of their ski chalet or Caribbean trip.

No, you are trying to stir the pot. This is not happening at all at our private. YOu all need to find something to complain about in every aspect of your lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Status signaling. It’s a way to dance around how rich you are and how decadent and exciting your life is. Are you doing well, rich, or rich rich and spending money like water.

Funny. When I hear people are going on trips instead of seeing cousins or grandparents or family I think they are oddly selfish. We have more money and access to trips than most and we choose to spend the holidays with extended family. Anyone that thinks we could not travel to Europe or to Caribbean is silly. We have no interest.

Same here. It’s just a given we would travel to see cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. I feel sorry for kids that don’t have those networks because instead their parents want to go party with their friends elsewhere.

Ah, I'm so glad some of you are such better people than we are.

(1) Some of us have lost all our family, but it's always welcome to have people rub that in.

(2) Some people actually travel WITH their families (I know, I know, what an insane concept!)

I feel sorry for kids who have parents as judgmental and unkind as you.

+1 and some of us spend Xmas with family and then take off and travel right after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Status signaling. It’s a way to dance around how rich you are and how decadent and exciting your life is. Are you doing well, rich, or rich rich and spending money like water.

Funny. When I hear people are going on trips instead of seeing cousins or grandparents or family I think they are oddly selfish. We have more money and access to trips than most and we choose to spend the holidays with extended family. Anyone that thinks we could not travel to Europe or to Caribbean is silly. We have no interest.

Same here. It’s just a given we would travel to see cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. I feel sorry for kids that don’t have those networks because instead their parents want to go party with their friends elsewhere.

My family is in Europe. My brother and his family are in Paris.

Same here! My family is in Europe and we visit twice a year. Husband’s family is in a famous beach place in South America and we visit there once every two years too…
To be honest when people that we don’t know well ask what are our plans, I usually just say we are going to visit family. I won’t lie if they ask more, but usually people don’t…. It’s small talk and nothing more. I could not care less if people stay in DC or go to Aspen or Paris and I don’t assume they are rich if they do and poor if they don’t. There are cheap ways to travel (I guess not super cheap, but it does not have to break the bank)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every and I mean every rich classmate of my daughter’s has ALREADY posted detailed photos on instagram of their ski chalet or Caribbean trip.

Yes, many well-off people are shallow, insecure, and buy into the idea that wealth somehow makes them more special or better people.

But you don’t have to buy into that. Your daughter doesn’t have to be on social media, neither do you.

Funny how so many of the tech bros that created the social media nightmare have their kids attend Waldorf schools and keep them off tech. Why do you think that is? Because they have access to the data that shows how bad it is for kids’ brain development and mental health.

Ha! This response wins the day, for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Status signaling. It’s a way to dance around how rich you are and how decadent and exciting your life is. Are you doing well, rich, or rich rich and spending money like water.

Funny. When I hear people are going on trips instead of seeing cousins or grandparents or family I think they are oddly selfish. We have more money and access to trips than most and we choose to spend the holidays with extended family. Anyone that thinks we could not travel to Europe or to Caribbean is silly. We have no interest.

Often an extended family goes to the same holiday travel destination. Weird for you to assume it’s just an immediate family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every and I mean every rich classmate of my daughter’s has ALREADY posted detailed photos on instagram of their ski chalet or Caribbean trip.

No, you are trying to stir the pot. This is not happening at all at our private. YOu all need to find something to complain about in every aspect of your lives.

No. We have log-ins for our daughter’s social media. The posts all week are multi-photo and video reels of where they are vacationing right now AND many are posting year-end highlights of their 2023, which of course includes several photos of pricey holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Status signaling. It’s a way to dance around how rich you are and how decadent and exciting your life is. Are you doing well, rich, or rich rich and spending money like water.

Funny. When I hear people are going on trips instead of seeing cousins or grandparents or family I think they are oddly selfish. We have more money and access to trips than most and we choose to spend the holidays with extended family. Anyone that thinks we could not travel to Europe or to Caribbean is silly. We have no interest.

Same here. It’s just a given we would travel to see cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. I feel sorry for kids that don’t have those networks because instead their parents want to go party with their friends elsewhere.

Many of these families meet extended family at these destinations. What makes you jump to “feeling sorry for kids”? We travel a lot and my kids have strong family connections. Our families on both sides are also wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every and I mean every rich classmate of my daughter’s has ALREADY posted detailed photos on instagram of their ski chalet or Caribbean trip.

Not everyone. My daughter doesn’t do social media and neither do I, so we don’t post about our trips. I might ask ‘any plans for the break” for small talk, but it’s just a conversation starter for me.

[Anonymous]

People can be so obnoxious and social media exacerbates the problem. We have two kids in private school and go away on nice vacations. We don’t post anything. I am happy with my life and don’t need other people’s opinions or jealousy to feel good. I truly believe that the more people post the less secure they are. Many people in this area live off of family money or have significant debt (I am a divorce attorney and see the finances of many people who appear rich). Looks can be deceiving!! Trust me!

None of this suggests that it is still hard to see pictures of these trips especially if you can’t afford them. People should pride themselves on respect, honesty, and loyalty. If showing off their expensive lifestyle is what they need then those aren’t the right people for you in your life. Perhaps you should unfollow some of them. I do that with people who I find toxic. They can’t tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every and I mean every rich classmate of my daughter’s has ALREADY posted detailed photos on instagram of their ski chalet or Caribbean trip.

Yes, many well-off people are shallow, insecure, and buy into the idea that wealth somehow makes them more special or better people.

But you don’t have to buy into that. Your daughter doesn’t have to be on social media, neither do you.

Funny how so many of the tech bros that created the social media nightmare have their kids attend Waldorf schools and keep them off tech. Why do you think that is? Because they have access to the data that shows how bad it is for kids’ brain development and mental health.

Ha! This response wins the day, for me.

This. I was in SV with many parents with (mostly dads) in tech, and they went to Waldorf or Montessori schools. Low tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People can be so obnoxious and social media exacerbates the problem. We have two kids in private school and go away on nice vacations. We don’t post anything. I am happy with my life and don’t need other people’s opinions or jealousy to feel good. I truly believe that the more people post the less secure they are. Many people in this area live off of family money or have significant debt (I am a divorce attorney and see the finances of many people who appear rich). Looks can be deceiving!! Trust me!
This is so true; you see this a lot when you do family law "wealthy" people. It turns out they can't afford to buy the other out of the house and are fighting about whether to keep the kids in private schools. Lots of debt for "stuff."

None of this suggests that it is still hard to see pictures of these trips especially if you can’t afford them. People should pride themselves on respect, honesty, and loyalty. If showing off their expensive lifestyle is what they need then those aren’t the right people for you in your life. Perhaps you should unfollow some of them. I do that with people who I find toxic. They can’t tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I truly believe that the more people post the less secure they are.

100% - people blasting all over social media need therapy or Jesus or both. The wealthiest folks I know don’t use social media at all. They have their trips documented in really nice picture books we look at in their mansions when we visit.

[Anonymous]

Why are you bothered by other people's plans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I truly believe that the more people post the less secure they are.

100% - people blasting all over social media need therapy or Jesus or both. The wealthiest folks I know don’t use social media at all. They have their trips documented in really nice picture books we look at in their mansions when we visit.

It is not that sinister or teasing out some form of unhappiness. All kids overshare every detail about their life. It just sucks for kids who can’t afford to keep up. The wealth gap has never been more transparent and in your face.

[Anonymous]

One of the Happy Holidays vacation photos a classmate of my DD posted of her family casually had several bottles of empty French wine on a table. I Googled the wine. $500 a bottle lol