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

I guess I'm just not in the same social circles as you.

Where did I say that my kids didn't go to birthday parties?  Or that they never went to restaurants or plays or traveled?  I said that we spend relatively little on our kids not that they are free.  We have always given to charity so giving to their school is no different and doesn't increase our overall charitable gifts budget.

How much do you spend to attend a birthday party?  Most of the parties my kids get invited to say "no gifts".  Cost = zero.  If we take a gift it's usually $10-15, which is the norm.  And, yes, we've had birthday parties for the kids every year of their lives.  We either hold them at home or at a park.  I never tallied up how much I spent but it's not a big expense.  I make a cake and pizza (both from scratch), we buy some decorations (not expensive) and the kids run around and have fun and play and do what kids do.  most expensive thing has probably been beer and wine for the parents.  But these aren't big dos -- just a handful of kids and their parents.  They are absolutely 100 percent in keeping with what their friends (and our friends) do.  And fun too.

As for enrichment -- we live in the DC area!  I'll admit that my kids have never been to a movie, but that's not been for financial reasons.  This past weekend they had a birthday party (no gift), we went to the Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival (free for kids), to the American History Museum on the Mall (free) and hiked in a nearby state park (free).  They also played soccer with some friends at the local rec center (free).  Far from them missing out, I think we do more with our kids than pretty much any family we know and that they've had more experiences and enrichment than they'd get from me paying hundreds of dollars for them to attend a soccer or karate class or learn violin.[/quote]

Your kids can't appreciate what they don't have. My parents put me through 8 years of classical music education plus figure skating lessons with language tutors, and I am very grateful I had that experience instead of free soccer games at wherever happened to be free. [/quote]

No kidding! I'm surprised PP can stand up with that chip on her shoulder. Who scoffs at other parents for being able to afford to give their kids music lessons? [/quote]

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