I was picking up Ryan from school yesterday.\u00a0 Nathan was in the car with me because he had just had his wisdom teeth pulled.\u00a0 He wasn’t doing so well and I was anxious to get going so that we could pick up his pain\u00a0medication…that still wasn’t ready.\u00a0 I’m thinking about\u00a0switching back to Walgreen’s and missing out on the few\u00a0extra dollars I save at Wal-Mart for prescriptions.\u00a0 But that’s another story.<\/p>\n
As we were\u00a0inching our way\u00a0out of the school parking lot, a kid that looked to be about 16 or 17 took his spot in front of me.\u00a0 I noticed that the car he was driving was brand new; it still had the dealership license plate.\u00a0 It was a very, very nice car.\u00a0 I commented on it to the kids.<\/p>\n
“Wow.\u00a0 A brand new Cadillac.\u00a0 Tell me that wasn’t his Christmas present,” I said, not really expecting that it would have been.\u00a0 After all, it was a Cadillac.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, it is,” they both said simultaneously.<\/p>\n
That’s when I enter The Twilight Zone.\u00a0 I simply cannot imagine a 16 year old getting a brand new car for Christmas, let alone a brand new Cadillac!\u00a0<\/p>\n
And when I recovered:\u00a0 “Are you kidding me??!!\u00a0 He got a brand new caddy?”<\/p>\n
“It’s pretty nice,” said Nathan, who drives to school in a used 2002 Toyota Camry that he paid half for.<\/p>\n
Help me out here.\u00a0 I know parents want to be able to\u00a0buy nice things for their kids.\u00a0 It makes the parents feel good to give and the kids feel good to receive.\u00a0 But let’s take a moment to really think about this.\u00a0 Even if\u00a0they do have the money, and these parents apparently do, is giving your kid a brand new car a smart move?\u00a0 What are the kids\u00a0learning?\u00a0 That they’ll get everything they want?\u00a0 That this lifestyle will continue forever?<\/p>\n
Don’t get me wrong.\u00a0 I have no doubt that these kids are nice kids.\u00a0 And, truthfully, I don’t even know if they need to “pay back” their parents somehow.\u00a0 My guess is, no, they don’t.\u00a0In that case, their parents are setting up some pretty high expectations.\u00a0These kids are going to expect this kind of treatment.\u00a0\u00a0They’re lucky the money is there now, but what about later in life?\u00a0 Even if the kids do\u00a0inherit all the money will they know how to effectively manage it?<\/p>\n
It also makes me wonder about the real motivation\u00a0behind the gift.\u00a0 Is the gift for the kids or for the parents?\u00a0 Will the kids grow up thinking that money equals love?\u00a0 Will they grow up surrounded by nice things but feel alone?\u00a0 Okay, I may be taking this a little too far.\u00a0 But…maybe not.<\/p>\n
As we finally pulled out on to the main road, Nathan said,\u00a0 “You think that\u00a0Caddy’s\u00a0a nice car.\u00a0 You should see the Mercedes that (Julie) got last year.\u00a0 It’s a red convertible.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ahhhh….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was picking up Ryan from school yesterday.\u00a0 Nathan was in the car with me because he had just had his wisdom teeth pulled.\u00a0 He wasn’t doing so well and I was anxious to get going so that we could pick up his pain\u00a0medication…that still wasn’t ready.\u00a0 I’m thinking about\u00a0switching back to Walgreen’s and missing out on the few\u00a0extra dollars I save at Wal-Mart for prescriptions.\u00a0 But that’s another story. As we were\u00a0inching our way\u00a0out of the school parking lot,…<\/p>\n