Scene 1: Nate and Alex made up a new game Tuesday night. They call it "house cleaner." They cleaned up their room then made their beds and piled all their stuffed animals on top of the beds.
Scene 2: A college kid came by selling educational books door to door. I chatted with him while standing in the playroom. He asked if the boys ever got to use a computer. I pointed to the obvious childrens' desk with two chairs and a laptop on it and said, "That's their laptop. It was their birthday present." He choked out, "You bought your four year olds a laptop?"
YOU MAKE THE CALL! Which is the worse yuppy parenting moment?
12 comments:
So funny Laura! I struggle with the balance between giving the kids what they want, and trying to deal with the "go to the store and buy a new one!" comments I get when something breaks etc. It's a really hard balance to strike and I'm not sure I'm doing it well.
I'd have more yuppy parent guilt over the house cleaner game. Which explains why my house is such a mess.
I have no problem with the fact that Michael has pretty much taken over one of our laptops and my mom's computer. Computers are going to be such a significant factor in his life that I just consider it a part of growing up, like TV was for us.
Plus, it's the only way to keep him from taking over my iPhone and resigning my WwF games by accident.
Can Nate and Alex come play "housecleaner" at my house? As for the laptop, Ed has made it abundantly clear that the kids can not TOUCH my new laptop. Any bets on how long that will last? (And Joanna--I think the boys play on my iPhone more than I do. Even Seth, at 2, can navigate to all his favorite apps and shows on iTunes.)
Wow. Y'know, if you want to bring your boys to Austin, they can stay at my house and teach my girls how to play house cleaner. They can teach them "Rainbow Fairy" in return!
I love it! The girls' came home from computer class this week with their first project in Excel. Ugh Microsoft, but still ...
It's interesting, we grew up squarely lower class but we were one of the first families I knew to have a computer because my dad was and is really into technology...a Commodore 64 I believe. When I was in elem. school I was part of a pilot program for having computers in "inner-city" schools, and then I was in a computer magnet program in high school. So I actually think our kids' generation will view computers the way we view the TV - just another normal appliance in the house. HOWEVER, I am absolutely against the kids having a computer or TV in their bedrooms or playroom. Having the computer in our bedroom only is the only way I can really restrict when he's on it - I've already caught him "sneaking" in computer time now that he knows how to log on by himself!
I'd definitely go with the computer, rsrs. I feel guilty already that my kids watch a couple of youtube animal videos every now and then, and we don't even own a TV.
I would have zero guilt over the cleaner. You need it, no need for excuses. Everyone does, and if I was a cleaner myself I'd probably hire one, too. Besides, it pays well to be a cleaner in the US, so it is just fair division of labor.
The girls LOVE to clean any and everything, they use cloths, they have kiddie brooms and mops, and the other day they got my water+vinegar spray and cleaned all the pantry lower shelves, hehe. It is a sure way to have nearly one hour of peace. If it is hot and they can have a bucket of water and a bit of soap, it is toddler heaven.
Dean already knows how to operate the iPod touch and I have already joked about getting him his own computer so he leaves mine alone!
I would say number 2 because I have absolutely no guilt about teaching kids to clean LOL
Already we give them cloths to clean their high chairs - it's a mess but I like to think I'm introducing the concepts early :)
Neither! Kids need to know how to clean and they need to know how to use the computer (and stay off of mom's!).
I also look at it this way - you're a computer guru, right? So therefore it's natural that what you're savvy at translates into what you give your children. If you were a cowgirl, they'd probably have a horse. If you were an astronaut, they'd have a bunch of rockets. Or if you were a deep sea diver, they'd have an aquarium. so on and so forth....
I feel like I am the last one to speak given our trend of going to place after place after place and the kids not really appreciating it all.
We had a cleaner growing up, my mom worked just so we could have one because she hated cleaning. So I won't go with that being yuppish it would have to be the laptop. But hey it's a tool like anything else.
I would feel zero guilt over "house cleaner." Who cares how the house gets clean and its wonderful that they know how to do it. The laptop cracks me up. It is a balance but when my kiddos are 4, who knows what they will have.
I would get rid of a lot of other things before I stop paying someone to clean our house.
We pay our cleaner $25/hour so though it's hard work, it sure does pay a lot better than working for minimum wage.
We are yuppie dog parents - our pup gets acupuncture to relieve pain from a slipped disk. It seems totally ridiculous except that it actually works.
Does it make me the anti-yuppie parent since we buy most of BabyT's clothes from Craigslist, other moms at work, and Goodwill? Or just cheap? ;)
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