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My moms coworker is having a baby. She's unmarried and works as a secretary. Probably makes 30k tops. While she is a bit older than me,28, it's not exactly the end of child bearing years. My mom is saying the Secretary is very happy about having a child. How?
If you are referring to me, I was teased and bullied at school because I did not have those things. Made my formative years a living hell. These things are important to kids - and if you do not have them, there will be hell to pay.
I am sorry you went through that! I agree it is hard for kids who don't have certain things. When I was younger I toyed with the idea of becoming a single mother on my own because I still hadn't met the right man. I decided not to ultimately, because I knew I could only pay the bills and not much else. I didn't want to have to tell my child "no, we can't buy you new clothes for school this year" or "no, I can't afford gym shoes for your PE class" or "no, you can't play soccer".
I knew a guy in college who grew up very poor. He wanted to play football in high school and the coach encouraged him to, but his parents said no, we can't afford the uniform. They also wanted him to drop out of high school and get a factory job. That's not how I want to raise my kids.
I think that these two posters are comparing apples and oranges, probably because of growing up or raising their kids in different time periods and different communities.
There is a huge difference between not buying your child designer shirts & jeans and your child having to wear hand-me-down old, worn out & patched clothes every day.
And, as mochamajesty stated if you could afford "Travel, concerts, music lessons, sports" or even only one of those things then you are not really "low income".
I had a very happy childhood, we never realized that we were somewhat poor because most of our neighbors and friends were somewhat poor, too. But, even I remember a few things that would probably shock a few readers. The very first time that I ever had a meal in restaurant or diner was when I was 12 years old and it was because a friend was celebrating her birthday with her family and invited me to come. Yes, 12 years old. And, the next time wasn't until sometime after I was at least 16, and was working making my own money. We had plenty of food at home, as we lived on a farm, had cows & chickens, fruit trees & a vegetable garden but we certainly did not have money (or time) to waste by going out to eat.
Hmmm, how many 16 year olds have only had one restaurant, diner, fast food meal in their entire lives? Today, many families have at least one a week, if not multiple times a week. And, I am not an elderly person who remembers the depression or the austerity after WW II, I am only 64 years old.
We went a little more than that, because we went to this restaurant about half an hour away every year for my grandmother's birthday. I was so excited because they had this wonderful food that my mother never made at home. It was called "Chicken in a basket", and it was fried chicken and french fries served in an actual basket. I thought it was heavenly.
But I was one of seven kids and my parents grew up in the depression. They didn't waste money on buying food outside of the home. Even when we went on vacation, we had a cottage that had a kitchen and my mother made our food. That was the only time we went out to eat during the year.
As a matter of fact, I remember some embarrassing moments. One was when I was sleeping over a friend's house, and they took me to dinner at a Chinese place. I was around 8 or 9. They asked if I liked Chinese food, and I said I didn't know because I'd never had it. Well, you would have thought I came from another planet by the reaction of the parents.
Then another time, I was a girl scout, again, around 9 or 10, and all the town troops were doing some activity and going for pizza afterward. Everyone was excited, and I pretended to be, too, but in reality, I had never had pizza and had no idea what it tasted like. By then I had figured out that my family was weird and not the same as the other people I knew, lol, and I learned how to lie and pretend I was normal. And I have loved pizza since that day.
Some of my parents' weirdness I am grateful for now. For example, we rarely went to a movie and we weren't allowed to watch much TV when I was a child. When other kids talked about shows that were popular like Bewitched, I had no idea what they were talking about. I saw those shows much later, in reruns. The younger kids in the family watched Disney on Sunday night, and my older brother and two sisters got to stay up for Bonanza. But the TV was not on every night. And oh, we were the last family on the planet to have a black-and-white television. It still worked, so there was no reason to buy a new one. I was a senior in high school, I think, before we got a color TV. That was 1975 or 76. And my parents didn't get a dishwasher until I was an adult. They didn't need one. They had us.
So...we played cards and board games, and we played outside, and I read every book I could get my hands on. To this day a week might go by before I put the television on. I'm glad I was raised with very little of it.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 10-24-2016 at 08:17 PM..
So...we played cards and board games, and we played outside, and I read every book I could get my hands on. To this day a week might go by before I put the television on. I'm glad I was raised with very little of it.
That's nothing to brag about. I grew up with TV/ I watched a ton of shows regularly. When I went to college, I simply didn't have time to watch any tv shows (and didn't have tv in my room - no space) and haven't gotten back to watching tv after graduation. I don't even have netflix/hulu/amazon prime/etc.
I also haven't gone to a movie theater in 4 years. I use to go to the movies once a week.
That's nothing to brag about. I grew up with TV/ I watched a ton of shows regularly. When I went to college, I simply didn't have time to watch any tv shows (and didn't have tv in my room - no space) and haven't gotten back to watching tv after graduation. I don't even have netflix/hulu/amazon prime/etc.
I also haven't gone to a movie theater in 4 years. I use to go to the movies once a week.
Find something else to be proud of.
You know what?
You come here humblebragging about your salary, whining about your alma mater and sticking your nose in the air. You are clearly unhappy and have nothing better to do than post online to strangers looking for kudos. And you have the gall to judge and disrespect grown adults, who have worked, saved and raised children the best they could.
Stop. Just stop.
Grow up, get a life.
Stop complaining and whining and judging and actually live.
Come back in 20 years and tell us how things went.
Stella, a lot of us have a lot to be proud of. We have long marriages, great kids, homes we work hard to maintain. We have friends. We have relationships. We have wisdom that only comes from experience. But, hey, you've had a job for a whole year, so...
You come here humblebragging about your salary, whining about your alma mater and sticking your nose in the air. You are clearly unhappy and have nothing better to do than post online to strangers looking for kudos. And you have the gall to judge and disrespect grown adults, who have worked, saved and raised children the best they could.
Stop. Just stop.
Grow up, get a life.
Stop complaining and whining and judging and actually live.
Come back in 20 years and tell us how things went.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn
She is a gifted writer. She has a great sense of humor. She is a knowledgeable history buff. She is a 9/11 survivor.
There. That was easy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibbiekat
Stella, a lot of us have a lot to be proud of. We have long marriages, great kids, homes we work hard to maintain. We have friends. We have relationships. We have wisdom that only comes from experience. But, hey, you've had a job for a whole year, so...
the situation perplexes me. How can one feel happy knowing their kid is being born in such a disadvantaged situation?
I am a low income single mom of two kids.
I can assure you my kids have never gone without, and they have no idea they are poor. Honestly I think in many ways they have more than kids raised in two parent households.
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