Anonymous wrote:+1. Agree. My three daughters all went college and have good jobs. I had a fulfilling career and am in a happy marriage. But what has made truly happy is that my children are wonderful parents and I have wonderful grandchildren. I am so happy I had kids early enough that I can be a very active grand parent. It is my greatest joy. I would never say this in public but I feel very sorry for my friends whose kids don't have kids yetAnonymous wrote:Sucess = grandchildren
+1. Agree. My three daughters all went college and have good jobs. I had a fulfilling career and am in a happy marriage. But what has made truly happy is that my children are wonderful parents and I have wonderful grandchildren. I am so happy I had kids early enough that I can be a very active grand parent. It is my greatest joy. I would never say this in public but I feel very sorry for my friends whose kids don't have kids yetAnonymous wrote:Sucess = grandchildren
Anonymous wrote:For me, the experience along the way is enough to justify the cost. That is exactly why we do private school.
Anonymous wrote:This board seems so competitive, that it makes me wonder what you consider successful beyond college? So, say your star private schooler gets into a top university (Harvard, Stanford, etc...) but then decides to be a teacher, does that count and make your tuition payments worth it? Or do they forever need to be at a certain income level or career to qualify as successful and justify that extra 360k in private school tuition? Just curious. Obviously for some money is no issue (my dd is in school with many like that), but for those where that money would make a difference, what are your honest expectations for the ultimate outcome, and do you think you will be upset if after all the investment your child decides to just bum around as an adult or have a low paying career/job? 360k invested over time is also clearly worth more in future dollars. Or is the experience alone along the way enough to justify the cost?
Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as the PP. It is good to want, to reach for things and get some but not all of them.
Anonymous wrote:I want DS to have an enriching, interesting, supportive journey from K-12. I want him to reach his fullest intellectual potential during those years.
Then I want him to attend a university or college that is in the top 15 for his particular area of interest.
[[I can't say what that is right now, in 6th grade. There may not be overlap among schools WRT majors -- i.e., Williams is probably not the very best school for aeronautical engineering. Columbia U. maybe not the tops for agricultural science and technology. CalTech ... not for creative writing.]]
Then, I want him to evolve in a fulfilling career that occasionally fascinates him and always sustains him.
Ultimately, I want him to have the broad critical thinking skills that would allow him to switch careers if he desires.
I want him to earn enough salary to buy everything he needs and a lot -- but not all -- of what he wants during the course of his lifetime.