Kids getting pedicures

[asmom]

I usually don't care how other people spend/waste their money but today I was inconvenienced so I'm going to vent. I usually get a pedicure during the summer about once a month. That adds up to 4 times a year, hardly an extravagance. Lately I've noticed more and more kids getting both hands and feet done. Pardon my french but what a stupid, *&%$!@ waste of money. Perhaps, it's not a bad idea to treat a kid on her birthday but often the kids are coming with nails already done which indicates these are regular appointments. What kind of overprivileged kids are they raising? Some of them are as young as 5 years old, are you kidding me? I bet none of these kids have college funds. I think the moms are idiots. </vent>

[disneysteve]

Manicures, pedicures, spa treatments, facials, massages, the whole bit. People - well moms really, you would have a tough time finding a dad taking his kid for this garbage - are not just spoiling their kids, they are ruining them, raising them to expect that this is the norm. Now when those little girls become teens and 20-somethings and have their own money, guess how they will spend it - the very same way.

What happened to playing dress-up with your kid and having a day at home where mommy puts make-up and nail polish on her little girl as a special treat, which probably cost next to nothing using supplies she already had in the house?

[Joi]

I remember reading a thread a few days ago about things things you would never pay for. For myself, I would never pay for a manicure or pedicure, let alone for a small child. That is one thing I remember about my mom so vividly is doing at home manicures and pedicures ourselves. The nail care tools really do pay for themselves over and over again.

[momcents]

To be honest, mine have had pedicures once at a "pre-dance competition" party. They still talk about how much fun it was. And they're looking forward to my best friend taking them out for pedi's for their birthday get-together. If it is a treat, and they know it is a treat, I see no harm in it.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by momcents

If it is a treat, and they know it is a treat, I see no harm in it.

I would agree with this. For a special occasion, like a family wedding, or a special birthday or before a family cruise, go right ahead. As long as the kids know that it is something special, not an every day event.

[Debt Vigilante]

To me it better than people that pay for for their dogs to go to an animal spa. Def saw one of those in Orlando last week and couldn't believe it. I dont have a problem spending money every once and a while. To live your life focused solely around the future seems dubious, but spending money for you dog to get pampered... stupid.

[ktmarvels]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

People - well moms really, you would have a tough time finding a dad taking his kid for this garbage - are not just spoiling their kids, they are ruining them, raising them to expect that this is the norm.

Not necessarily. When I was getting my nails done a while back a dad and his son were getting pedicures.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Debt Vigilante

To me it better than people that pay for for their dogs to go to an animal spa. Def saw one of those in Orlando last week and couldn't believe it. I dont have a problem spending money every once and a while. To live your life focused solely around the future seems dubious, but spending money for you dog to get pampered... stupid.

Yes, Disney just opened a luxury spa for cats and dogs with TVs, spa treatments and more. Quite silly, IMO.

[Debt Vigilante]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Yes, Disney just opened a luxury spa for cats and dogs with TVs, spa treatments and more. Quite silly, IMO.

That is the exact one I was talking about lol

[charley_alford]

Wow. Unbelievable. Luckily my girls are too busy climbing trees, playing ball and being children to think about getting pedicures.

[marvholly]

My DD's are now grown adults w/homes & kids of their own. I vividly remember them saying NO to a manicure for their Bat Mizvahs. I think the first time either had a manicure was for thier high school proms. For older DD her first pedicure was for a frined's wedding. She was >25.

To this day older DD VERY seldom (<1x/year) gets mani/pedi and younger DD for special occassions and sandal season only. Oldest granddaughter will be 6 on 7/1. She does once in a while get to play dress up having mom/granmom do her nails at home and that has only happened a few times in the last 2 years or so.

ETA to add:
Mani/pedi combo is $35 + $5 tip around here. That is enough $$ to pay for all my groceries, HBA, and cat food/supplies for 2 weeks. NO WAY would I do anything like that.

[MonkeyMama]

I've never spent a cent on a manicure.

If I had girls I would teach them to do their own nails. MUCH cheaper.

People find it amazing that I can, but a couple of decades of practice will get you pretty good at DIY manicures.

But, honestly, I couldn't stand the fumes. I just have no desire to subject myself to that - and then there are the stories of places that didn't clean their equipment - fungus, etc. I just have never seen the draw. (We have a salon just down the street that gave some of our neighbors fungus. Lovely!!)

[cschin4]

You can think what you want about moms. But, I like to take my daughter in once in awhile and get her nails done. She likes "girly girl" things and it is a way to make her feel special and to have some bonding time. I don't do it often but i don't see anything wrong with it.

[ironicone]

I take my eight year old daughter a few times a year. We have a mother daughter day and this is part of it. We make an appointment and spend a couple of hours chatting. You can consider it a waste of money, but I don't. If the 30 dollars it cost me was a financial inconvenience in any way I wouldn't do it.
However, her college fund is being funded, my retirement is set and she gets very little in the way of toys from me. She behaves very well during the process, and always says please and thank you.
Some moms take their kids for happy meals or ice cream, I take her for mani/pedis. I am rewarding her with experiences rather than food. We spend lots of time together but this is special time and is regarded as a treat.

[asmom]

Originally Posted by cschin4

You can think what you want about moms. But, I like to take my daughter in once in awhile and get her nails done. She likes "girly girl" things and it is a way to make her feel special and to have some bonding time. I don't do it often but i don't see anything wrong with it.

I must have been really annoyed when I wrote that. Looking back on it, my words seem particularly harsh.

[cschin4]

Originally Posted by asmom

I must have been really annoyed when I wrote that. Looking back on it, my words seem particularly harsh.

Ha, ha! Been there! No sweat!

[khosta]

If it's a special treat I see no harm in it... If it's a regular occurance then there's a problem!! That child will grow up to expect these things on regular occasions and just become a spoiled princess brat!!!

[rennigade]

If the parents or the kids have money to spend and can afford pedicures whats the problem?

In case anyone hasn't noticed, kids today do not do the same things kids did 10+ years ago. Times have changed. Doesn't mean its a good thing but that's how it is.

Also...in another 10 years, those kids will not be doing the same thing kids today are doing. And 10 years from then you will hardly see kids outside playing.

Bottom line, if they can afford it or if their parents can afford to give them money to get their nails done, so be it. More power to them.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

This IS hard for me to understand.

Can someone explain to me why a manicure or pedicure IS a treat to a child? Is it because they appreciate the artwork of a painted nail? Is it because they relish the very focused attention the nail tech gives to just them? Is it the pleasure of having their hands or feet touched? Used to be many people said they could not bear to have someone else touch their feet--too ticklish. Has that changed? Is it the feeling that they are doing something grown up and that Mom or Dad recognizes them as grown up enough to participate? Is it because time spent doing anything with Mom or Dad is less common, so that doing anything with them is special?

And do these kids enjoy doing their own nails at home in the same or in a different way? Has that become that too ho-hum to be fun? Or is nail polishing for kids no longer fun, but something serious, something which should be accomplished with great quality? At 8 years old, have they learned to see the such a difference between their own (or their parent's, friend's, or sibling's) skill level in polishing nails, that the paid service is really valued?

[Snodog]

My father thought it was a waste of money to have a color TV cause he never had one.

Each generation's standard of living increases and things that the previous generation deemed extravagant are now "necessities" to the next generation.

Today's teenagers who are getting pedicures will be complaining in 20 years about the next generation's frivolous spending.

Think of it as diversifying our economy and creating new jobs.

Are we all spoiled? Yes. Are future generations going to be more spoiled. Oh yeah.