How much would you spend..

[Mabuisakura]

Re: How much would you spend..

Try a sling..easy to use and leaves two hands free..and no one steals the kid from a sling...nice in crowded places.

I love slinging Elizabeth but I have the nojo sling and she is starting to outgrow it! Thats a good idea maybe I will get a sling for Christmas!

[PrincessPerky]

Re: How much would you spend..

I love slinging Elizabeth but I have the nojo sling and she is starting to outgrow it! Thats a good idea maybe I will get a sling for Christmas!

Sounds like the perfect gift!

as to budget mans question as kids grow, I cannot say much past toddlerhood, and for that they are still cheap..but I have no TV..no adds, and as they see things in stores they are taught to say 'wow that is cool' no 'I want that' allowed..same with ads and such.

When I was a teen I never really needed the right clothes, the teens who demand them the most when I was a kid had one of two situations

A. Mom or dad who knew what was 'in' and cared (Mom says 'I can't wear that coat it is from last season')

B a Mom or Dad who allows/encourages them to be 'in' (oh is that what they are wearing, guess we can get you one)

I know of a teen right now who has her own sense of style..bit odd, but it all looks good..her mother is in dismay...um be happy she isn't asking you for 80$ jeans!

I know of another teen who regularly gets asked "Is that what kids wear these days?" who cares!!!!!

I know many kids who say they will not wear something because it isn't 'in' and mom or dad agrees..err try asking them what looks good on them..that is all I care about.

I know another kid who wanted a lightbulb for his microscope till he went to public school (former private), now he wants a gameboy thinging, and ps59 or whatever, and a laptop, and new clothes, and more TV time, and a new movie, and and and and.....mom is lost wondering what happened to her sweet boy.......I dunno what will happen this christmas but I hope mom sticks to her guns and gets him the lightbulb and whatever other wants come from his heart, not from his peers.

[kealina]

When I was a teen I never really needed the right clothes, the teens who demand them the most when I was a kid had one of two situations

A. Mom or dad who knew what was 'in' and cared (Mom says 'I can't wear that coat it is from last season')

B a Mom or Dad who allows/encourages them to be 'in' (oh is that what they are wearing, guess we can get you one).

ditto... i didn't even know there were right clothes... i was one of those teens that had my own quirky sense of style... looking back, i'm sure i looked odd to other sometimes but i remember having fun and that's all i cared about...i didn't get any major exposure to "style" until i hit college, lucky for me...

i also agree with the idea that the kids who make demands like that usually learn it from somewhere... i know one girl who's mom is always saying stuff like "you deserve it" cuz _________. drives me nuts because i feel it creates a sense of false entitlement. then she'll turn around and complain about her daughter and how much her stuff costs. Duh! I just want to bang my head on the wall sometimes...

then again, i've also seen parents that were pretty good influences... i was friends with one girl in school who was really picky and would always end up spending maybe $60 or so when she finally found pants she wanted to wear... her mom was smart and imposed restrictions... she was only allowed to have two pairs of pants at a time. She had to wear them until they got worn out and then they would get replaced so that she always had two pairs... if she wanted more, then she had to pay for it...

even that was extravagant by my standards in high school... i was allowed to pick what i wanted out of what my mom bought at garage sales and that was it... a few times i used my credit from christmas gift exchanges to buy stuff but more often than not i gave the credit to my mom for household stuff...

anyways, even though school/friends/peers have an influence, i do believe that our overall personality and also our parents have a much larger influence...