Response to:The Incomparable Advantage of Having to Work for what you Get
I realize that the forums are really nothing but one person's anecdote VS another to prove a point. I generally agree with the idea of that article, however I'd like to offer one of my families stories from our favorite goat farmer step mom.
GFSM- She started raising goats to insure she'd always be able to have milk and meat available to feed the 3 kids from her 3rd marriage after hubby went to jail. Everything got tight. All extras stopped...Except dance.
My little bother has been dancing since they figured out he was into it. He get's up every to morning milks goats before he takes the bus to school. After school is all dance all night, almost every night...for the past several years now. He loves it. My step mother works her ass off to keep him in dance classes and just as costly dance clothes and shoes. His grandmother has been paying for the classes since his dad has been in trouble.
He's committed. He had the floors re-done in his room with a bar to practice. He's been in every stage production the school has produced. This is actually a pretty intense theater program. I went there, too. They put on 4 productions every school year.
As of March, he's been accepted to
Joffery Ballet Pre-pro in Moscow (This page is a summer program. He's going for 4 years). This would simply not have been possible without my step mother's commitment to her son's [one thing]. I know lots of performers who would not have gotten where they are were it not for countless hours of lessons and practice, shows that require costumes and make up, and the ability to be everywhere at once all provided by supportive parents. The same can be said for sports. Yes, there is low chance of making it to the top of super stardom. There are tons of really great jobs supporting super stars that all this experience still applies to.
So yea, I wouldn't be into robbing my kid of taking care of themselves, as outlined in The Millionaire Next Door. I would totally support [whatever one thing they showed true talent for]. It's possible it's be a cheap [one thing]. Let's hope it's not ice hockey...or any ice sport really. We live in CA. :)
My point is there are two things that are worthy of distinction here. I don't think paying out for something really import to your child is a bad thing. Paying out for every whim and want is problematic.
Thanks for listening.
