Our Daughter’s Rich Friends Are Driving Me Nuts
5th January 2019
We let our daughter go to the college of her choice. She got into many state and private schools, some with scholarships. But no breaks at all from the expensive private college she selected. She loves it, and we can afford it, but it means constant sacrifice. She knows this, but it doesn’t stop her from regaling us with her friends’ pricey bling and fancy travel. I finally lost it when she ignored the care package I sent during exams, telling me about a friend’s new Cartier necklace instead. She texted: “I wasn’t asking for one.” I replied: “Please stop telling me about your rich friends’ luxuries! I don’t want to hear about them.” What do we do?
Quit indulging her. When I graduated from high school, my father told me ‘We put you through high school, the rest is on your own.’ And, thanks to the GI Bill and loans, I paid my own way through Yale and two graduate degrees at Indiana. If I had my way paid for me, I wouldn’t have appreciated it and I wouldn’t have focused on getting my money’s worth.
Being obliged to use your own money for something concentrates the mind wonderfully.