Thanks for your thoughts on kids and gifts/toys. It's interesting to see the different ways that parents deal with this.
It's funny, because I'm quite comfortable with saying "no" (and its sometimes very ugly consequences), but the dilemma I've had lately is not what to do after I've said it, but rather, should I even say it in the first place.
The problem is, of course, that he's still in that incredibly delightful stage of treating any gift or toy, no matter how inconsequential, as The Best Thing Ever. It's not a question of buying his love, per se, as I'm quite comfortable that I've got that already; it's just that the $2 bottle of bubbles makes him visibly happier than a $200 necklace could make me.
And then, of course, there is the other dilemma, the great divide between what I think is appropriate, and what Steve thinks is expedient. In my family growing up, my mother was always the rule-maker and the rule-enforcer, and we could always count on my dad to be clueless enough or genial enough to get what we wanted. It looks like we are falling into similar patterns here, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. (The "buying a toy because we're shopping for your friend's birthday"--not exactly my idea.)
In other news: not pregnant, need to make an appointment with my RE, and walking 60 miles less than a month from now!
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