this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024

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I thought I was giving my kids the best childhood ever until my 4-year-old asked why we didn't own a 'bigger golf cart' (www.businessinsider.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 218 points 2 months ago (2 children)

This is a fluff piece written by someone in a rich bubble.

The 2 year old and 4 year old have no concept of money, the 4 year old did not "do most of the work" in a lemonade stand, and they do not have "their own money" to spend. Picking up after yourself and putting dishes in the sink are not chores, and kids this age aren't taking out the trash - of course they enjoy it when mummy does it and makes a big deal of how grown up the kids are for helping, and probably rewards then for it.

None of the ideas are innovative or relevant to most parents, and particularly not with a kids that age. This is just one rich bored parent with young kids sharing their "experiences". Pretty out of touch with reality.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (9 children)

"Look! My kids are almost like other kids, except they're spoiled-wealthy-at-birth!"

--businessinsider.com

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Every parent wants to spoil their kids. So they have it better than they had at their age. It’s just how it is. Your parents couldn’t afford Lego? You will buy the biggest set etc

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Yep mine have a shitload of legos, plus the power wheels cars that I never got to have as a kid

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Definitely not every parent.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I looked for past articles from her on Business Insider. She is middle class, like rest of us. Which middle class person doesn't hire an accountant and spend $1000 per month to make parenting easy!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

Hello fellow middle-class citizens!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

Lol, have you seen the cost of daycare... $1000 per month easy in most cities. Probably not what you meant, but it still made me laugh.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

She has a job and 2 kids in child care age. $25 a day seems reasonable even cheap to maintain her career. And if an accountant can pay for themselves on a journalists salary then she should right?

[–] [email protected] 123 points 2 months ago

I was pleasantly surprised by this sentence:

But I made it a point to explain [to my children] that while sometimes being homeless can be a result of not making good choices, sometimes it's a result of not having good choices.

It smacks of empathy, which is more than I expected. Whatever one may think of the author, she’s trying to teach her children to be better, and that counts for something.

[–] [email protected] 84 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (5 children)

I’m putting my foot down! No more than fifteen presents!

What the actual fuck?

Also, what’s the deal with the golf cart? Why do they have a golf cart?

[–] [email protected] 42 points 2 months ago (1 children)

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

THUTTY SIX BUT LAHST! THUTTY SIX BUT LAHST!

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (9 children)

It's quite common here to have one for driving around neighbourhoods, as cheap ones can be $1,000+.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 months ago (3 children)

That still does not answer my “why” question tbh.

But I suppose that in a country where “walkable neighborhoods” are construed to be some nefarious communist plot to rob people of their freedom, not walking its a status symbol.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

"for driving around neighbourhoods", same as having a car.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (3 children)

So an inferior bicycle basically.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (11 children)

Depends on your needs.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Fair enough, although I’d argue getting around the neighborhood is easier on a narrow vehicle that can carry some cargo and doesn’t depend on batteries. A golf cart has all the downsides of a car in day to day use and it’s slower and exposed to the elements. It’s probably a Veblen good in this case.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

My friends have one because they have a small baby and don't want to use their scooters (small motorbikes) with her when going out. They don't own a car. They can carry their shopping in it.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

The US hasn't really discovered Bakfiet bicycles yet.

Watching people take six kindergarten kids or a whole refrigerator on a bike through town in Berlin and Amsterdam was wonderful. They could do a pretty good Costco run on those things.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

Yeah the why is laziness I guess? Why walk when you can drive a smaller electric buggy for small distances and a big car for big distances?

Golf carts make sense in retirement communities - presumably the companies behind them are "growing the market" by targeting families as an alternative to push chairs and walking? Also I'm guessing these are American neighbourhoods which still are designed around cars than true walkability?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

They are popular in more affluent areas so they can be driven to clubhouses or other neighborhood spots, and unsurprisingly very common in neighborhoods that have their own golf course.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Imagine spending $1,000+ when walking is free.

I can imagine someone with a disability wanting a cart like this to get around, but this woman does not need a fucking golf cart.

We're all going to die because of this overconsumption bullshit.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Where is "here"?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

A lot of California is like this. I lived in San Diego and most homeowners had a golf cart. It’s actually really nice to use for groceries shopping and hauling coolers, surf boards, and small boats to the beach without using any gasoline. They are basically ultra light EVs.

Cali lets you register golf carts for the road as a non-highway vehicle. So you can putter around your local neighborhood but not any further. They actually reduce highway congestion and parking congestion since you can park 5 of them in a street parking space that holds only 2 cars.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

My first thought was "that's insane", but when you put it that way, it seems less insane than driving a car.

Normalize golf carts! I guess?! 🤷

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Electric cargo bikes fill the same niche here. Well, minus the boat part.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I feel like people just haven't tried hard enough with the boats. 😉

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I tell ya, the present thing is rough. When I was a kid, I got cards from aunts and uncles. But now they all send gifts. So there is 5 gifts right there. Then there is the grandparents. They have so much time to shop, they can bring 5+ gifts for each kid and only spend $50. So we are already at 15 and we didn't even buy anything yet. It's nuts.
Also, everything seems to have to be a gift now. Can't just buy a thing and give it to them. It has to wait to be a present. Or maybe that's just my wife. But also, when I was a kid, even in the rural area I lived, there was a convenience story where we could buy gum, or baseball cards and stuff for very little money. Now a pack of Pokémon is like $6 for way less cards. The only cheap things kids can buy is candy, and we aren't supposed to let them do that anymore either. So everything ends up as a present.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Also, everything seems to have to be a gift now. Can't just buy a thing and give it to them. It has to wait to be a present. Or maybe that's just my wife.

We specifically don't wait for holidays to give things we want to gift to our daughter (soon to be 3). On her birthday in two weeks she will get a book, a plush animal, and a second hand peppa pig puzzle (I hate peppa pig but she loves it and she doesn't even know there is a show). That's it, but she gets many things throughout the year. My husband hates holidays and celebrations, I think that's where this feeling of "let's please not make a huge stock of presents to give her twice a year" came from. And it is so much less pressure to find "the perfect gift".

And you can get rid of things much more easily. I don't know about you, but if I got a bad birthday present, I tend to keep it, because it was a birthday present. Same for children's stuff. She got that for her first birthday feels different than she got that when she was around 14 months. Somehow it's less sentimental, and I am an awfully sentimental and nostalgic person, so this saves my ass.

Another point is that can change interests so quickly. I would not dare to buy her something peppa pig themed right now for Christmas or plan ahead for her 4th birthday. Or let's say she needs a new bike - why would I wait until the end of summer to give it to her just because it's her birthday.

But talk to me again on September 9th, I usually get very sad that we don't celebrate with a crap ton of presents and decorations and a big party right before her birthday.

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 2 months ago

This is so tone deaf and privileged. Fuck this woman and this article.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago

Nothing funnier than seeing a bunch of Lemmings argue about the definition of middle class.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago

So many humans are so incredibly bad at being content with what they have - the grass is always greener on the other side...

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago

Time to abandon the family and start a new one

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