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

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][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]

10:19 here again, by "read through here," I didn't mean this particular thread.  I mean these boards in general.  There are a few threads on income and what people define as comfortable, and it always shocks me what people consider middle class, rich, et cetera.  I get the impression there are a lot of wealthy people in this region who consider themselves merely middle class, but in reality, their lifestyles, et cetera, are definitely at the least upper middle class, but more likely upper class.  And that perspective rubs off on the kids, so the kids grow up with a really strange view of what constitutes poor, middle class, wealthy.  And a lot of kids don't really how affluent they really are compared to the rest of the nation and certainly the rest of the world.

10:19 poster here.  I totally get what you're saying.  I think part of the problem around here is that not only do children grow up with a lot of money/affluence, but they're surrounded by affluence.  The perspective they develop is way off, meaning what they view as "poverty" is really middle class.  I mean, if you read through here, if parents think an HHI of 150k is barely middle class and they're raising their kids with that view, then they're going to grow up with a very warped perspective.  [/quote][/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics