Reply to S/O: how to parent in a low expectations, type B area?

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[quote=Anonymous]Seriously? You move, you travel and visit people you know with cool lives and cool jobs, or you raise your kids to be materialistic but also self sufficient.

Why move? I grew up in a small town where the “richest” person I knew was the local dentist or local attorney. I went to the best school I could imagine - it never occurred to me to apply to the Ivys or top 25. I aspired to be an engineer because adults told me it was a well paying profession. I didn’t know any better and I interviewed for chemical plant jobs. My spouse grew up in a place similar to McLean or Bethesda, went to an Ivy and grad school for the same major as me. He understood what jobs and income he could aspire to. I didn’t know any adults working as engineers or in consulting. Less than half of the adults in my life had a college degree and most of those that did went to the middling state school in my hometown.

If you don’t move, you need to give your kids a reason to want to leave your town behind. They need to have big dreams and big aspirations so they will want to go to a top school. Most of my friends went to the hometown state school - even bright kids who could have gone many other places. I didn’t have any specific ambitions or passions, but U knew I wanted to make a lot of money. Perhaps that goal was immature and shallow, but it fueled me to get good grades in HS and get a scholarship to a school my family otherwise could not afford. I knew from a young age I wanted more than what my small town had to offer and I knew if I wanted out I had to make it happen myself. [/quote]

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