Reply to If you grew up poor, do you wish your kids did too?

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[quote=Anonymous]I think it's a tough balance and I wish I had the answer for you.   I was a latch key kid who grew up poor with a single mom.  I think when you grow up that way you are forced to grow up a little faster and be more responsible at a younger age.  I use to say that I'm glad I grew up poor because kids that grow up with money are so naive about life.  I think that's more of a defense mechanism for envying other people who have had easier lives.  Now that I have children I really want them to be able to enjoy the stability but teach them how to appreciate what they have.  It's funny, I didn't realize until I had kids that it would be so much easier to spoil them but of course that isn't what we want to do.

But no I don't wish my kid was going to grow up poor.  Experiencing what its like to worry about what you'll eat or where you'll live isn't good for them either.  First I think you have to accept that they will never be able to experience what you did, and that's good and bad.  We do our best to constrain material things and model that being more thrifty is important.  I also think its important to communicate with your kids and help them understand where you came from and how hard you worked to get there.  And I think exposing them to different environments is important too so they don't think everyone is just like them.  We have taken my daughter to where I grew up a bunch of times and its a stark contrast to where we live now.  [/quote]

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