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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not to the extent that you are talking about, but I did not grow up with a lot of luxuries.  Dinner out was for bdays.  Presents were special not an every day occurrence.  New clothes happened in August for school.  As a result if I wanted something I had to work.  That meant I got a job at 14.  I also understood that the way out of this lifestyle was education.  I studied hard and was accepted to the IB program.  Of course my parents couldn't afford college so it was on me to find a way to pay for it.  Again, through studying hard and scholarships, I was able to go to a top school. I still needed 2 jobs in college to make ends meet.  Many a friend wondered why I was working.  But since I had been doing it for so long and it was all I knew, it was not until much later in life that it dawned.on me that other people didn't have jobs in college.

So while I would not want that lifestyle for my kids, I do want them to have a work ethic and know that money doesn't grow on trees.  I think the way to teach that is to make the kids accountable and responsible.  They need to learn the value of a dollar and what it takes to earn it.[/quote]

This is me, exactly, except I had three jobs in college. ^^^^     [i]Barely[/i] middle class in a Midwestern state.  Not poverty, but very close to the national poverty line for a family of 5.

I respectfully disagree with this PP, a little bit, and kind of get what OP is asking. (Useful to have been poor?)

As difficult as times were (sometimes), I absolutely believe the experience built great character and -- my point, finally -- it created a can-do-anything attitude in me and my sibs that I frankly do not see much "in these parts."   My kid is growing up in these parts, in affluence, and I would say more resembles the neighbors from Bergen County/Bethesda/Lower Merion Township than my family of origin.   I'm ambivalent about that.[/quote]

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