Am I being mean? - advice please?

vik6525

My ds is 7, and is the most 'brand unaware' child ive ever met!!! He's never heard of 'heelies' and hasnt got any interest in them... he loves 'vintage' clothes (aherm...) and when he sees his friends in all the latest adidas and nike stuff he tells me he thinks they look like 'townies'... Gawd, Im so proud!!

quick-learner

emmaroids wrote: »

if we gave our kids everything they wanted we would be well skint lol

you have to draw the line someware.

That's why I stopped at 2:rotfl: :rotfl:

quick-learner

vik6525 wrote: »

My ds is 7, and is the most 'brand unaware' child ive ever met!!! He's never heard of 'heelies' and hasnt got any interest in them... he loves 'vintage' clothes (aherm...) and when he sees his friends in all the latest adidas and nike stuff he tells me he thinks they look like 'townies'... Gawd, Im so proud!!

What a sensible child and so level headed at his age too!
Long may it continue...:T
You are right to be proud:D

Mics_chick

For something like this I would definitely stick to my guns just because of the chance of an accident... and I think she might be a bit young to earn them through chores IMO. I've always said that if my kids (both under 4 now) wanted a brand then I'd give them whatever it cost for a decent un-branded version (such as trainers) and if they wanted a more expensive version then they could earn and save up the money to buy the brand they wanted but I thought I would be doing this from secondary school age... ...obviously don't know coz I haven't got there yet

EthelBloggs

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

does that happen often? my boy's going to high school this year and isn't brand aware.

they can't wear heelies to school though can they?

It does happen, more so in secondary school. My son wasn't brand aware til about halfway thru year 7 and then all hell let loose, lol

He wouldn't wear anything that wasn't branded and he was fussy about those brands too :eek: At first I fought against it but then discovered he was truanting because he didn't have the right clothes and was being picked on cos of it.. I had wondered why he always came home so filthy and tatty looking! I'm afraid I'd rather spend a bit more on his clothes rather than him be bunking off.

Brands are sposed to be banned at his school, but because they can wear anything so long as it's mostly black with a white shirt the kids find ways around it, a tiny tick on a sweatshirt or whatever.. and it is hell!

Mics_chick

EthelBloggs wrote: »

It does happen, more so in secondary school. My son wasn't brand aware til about halfway thru year 7 and then all hell let loose, lol

He wouldn't wear anything that wasn't branded and he was fussy about those brands too :eek: At first I fought against it but then discovered he was truanting because he didn't have the right clothes and was being picked on cos of it.. I had wondered why he always came home so filthy and tatty looking! I'm afraid I'd rather spend a bit more on his clothes rather than him be bunking off.

Brands are sposed to be banned at his school, but because they can wear anything so long as it's mostly black with a white shirt the kids find ways around it, a tiny tick on a sweatshirt or whatever.. and it is hell!

I agree with you on this one Ethel

Sarahsaver

faded_flowers wrote: »

Genuinely? Even if your child was unhappy at school because of it? Like a couple of other posters, my parents couldn't afford 'brand' clothes and there were points in my school life when that made me so unhappy, because of the negative attention it attracted (probably worse for being in an all-girls school), mostly the first few years of Secondary school.

Does anyone WANT their kids to be shallow? :rolleyes: Bring them up with self confidence and teach them what really matters in life and you will do fine;)

balmaiden

I tell my grown up daughters that the only time you can be sure that the way you brought your up children was "right" is when they are grown up and you can see the result! Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, they sometimes give you a different slant on their childhood, and you realise perhaps things could have been done differently.

real1314

Just to chip in with my 2p worth..

as a kid we never had brands, we had all the duff copies (instead of adidas 3 stripes, my trainers were known as adidas 4skins!!) and ok, I wasn't a happy kid with it.
On the other hand I don't expect my 2 to have brand crazy gear.

They were quite taken with heelies at one point (saw some kids in the airport on holiday scooting about on them - turned out to be roy keane's kids and was a day b4 he signed as mackems manager) but then we showed them how they were not much use on pavement/roads, might be ok in shopping centres etc but they don't like shopping that much - they decided they didn;t want them

My rule for this sort of stuff is:

1. Brands are not the devil. Ok they're not "great" but they are apparently better than non-brands. Sometimes kids need to feel they are part of it. Not all the time, but then sometimes you can get brands at a reasonable price.

2. Kids need to know the cost of stuff. A suggestion that they have to use pocket money to buy something (25%/33%/50%), makes them think about what they want/need.

3. Making them understand that just 'cos something "looks" good doesn't mean it is. How rubbish was that "Sand Magic" stuff? But a cheap lesson? Shows them that adverts can suggest that somethings are not as good as they seem.

Right, that's enough for now!