Rusted Sky

I read the article and then tried to remember where I played when I was a child. Seems to me it was either in my bedroom or outdoors. My earliest memories were of our place in Virginia...3 bedrooms - one for my sister and me, one guestroom and one for my parents. I don't remember any toys, particularly, but my parent's philosophy was to have huge numbers of Christmas presents, and nothing for the rest of the year. Downstairs, we had a living room that merged into the dining room (L shape type) and a kitchen, with the washing machine (wringer type). I don't recall ever bringing toys downstairs. We also had a breezeway that connected us to the next house - they were sort of like townhouses today, but were all considered "apartments" - and I suspect I may have played there sometimes. It was the size of a two car carport. Other than that, we played outside - sans toys. Just played with other kids.
I was 10 when we moved to Ohio. Military quarters were larger in square footage, but the design was fairly similar - three bedrooms...no actually four - there were maids quarters on the third floor. No maid, just maid's quarters. That does say something though, doesn't it? At one time there must have been an expectation of _having_ a live-in maid. First floor had a living room, dining room and kitchen. I was expected to stay out of the living room, we always had dinner in the dining room, and breakfast in the kitchen. We had a basement with the washer, dryer (upgrade from hanging out the laundry!)and freezer. We had a backyard, but that was pretty much my Dad's province - he enjoyed gardening when he had time. No toys. We had the base gym pretty close, though. Indoor and outdoor swimming pool, bowling alley, pool tables and pingpong tables. I remember spending a lot of time there!
I'm not the housekeeper my mother was. My kids always had toys all over the place. I blamed it on having boys instead of girls. Is it my personal bias, or do they make more toys geared towards boys? Is it that girls are more socially interactive during play time, and boys are more "thing" oriented? Never thought about it before...!

I can’t write satire like this. Nobody would believe it.

“I think you mourn your previous life, at least for a while. You’re never going to have what you had.”

“...were also determined not to let Harrison ‘take control of the house’...”

“We spent years collecting meaningful, quality pieces... and then it all got blown apart.”

“Among the most troubling matters was the fate of the Barcelona chairs...”

“I’m very concerned with what’s in my visual space. When people come into the house, I very much do not want them being [visually] bombarded with toys.”

“Ms. McLean instructed Fia and Vin not to eat on the couch, and told them half-jokingly not to ‘sit on it, stand near it or even look at it.’”

Is this from the NYT’s ‘Home and Garden’ section or the ‘Shallow, Self-Obsessed Living’ section?

Well.
If they'd have their children in their early 20s like they're _supposed_ to, by the time they could afford the gorgeous stuff, their kids would be old enough to value it.
The other option, of course, is enforced discipline - they don't seem to enforce that either. I have no doubt that their children will be more of the same. I wouldn't mind being wrong.
No reflection on the host intended. Some choices we make, some are thrust upon us. He doesn't seem to suffer from the ‘Shallow, Self-Obsessed Living’ disease...

The article kinda leans on the ages of these people; I don’t look at them that way (and I feel sure that Jerry doesn’t think I did). My reaction was closer to: What’s more important to you? Your children or your damned furniture? For me, it’s a question hardly worth even voicing; for the people in the article, it seems to be one they have to agonize over. And it doesn’t sound to me as if all of them came up with ‘A: The kids’ – or not very strongly.

I would have expected better sense from the woman who lost an infant to ‘respiratory distress.’ (Is that like SIDS?) But I guess not...

I have a son whose lifespan is kind of – indefinite. If he had run full-tilt into our kitchen table while a toddler, I know I would have checked his skull before I even thought about the finish on the table.

Suek -

The little guy came along pretty late - I myself didn't get married until I was 37. (RNB was at the wedding, in fact, along with James and Linda Y. and others who comment here from time to time.) The little guy showed up at 42. He'll be 10 this year.

I can't IMAGINE being so obsessed with how the house looks that I'd put IT over the welfare or happiness of my child. The people in this article... well, their kids will know quite clearly what their parents' priorities are.

And later on, so will their therapists.

"He doesn't seem to suffer from the ‘Shallow, Self-Obsessed Living’ disease..."

Thank you! I try hard not to - there's too much evidence of it in our culture - and I'm trying to NOT raise the little guy in such a fashion. Appreciate the things you have - but value people more...

J.

Life happens. Personally - obviously - I think childraising should begin in the early 20s, but life doesn't always cooperate. You take what comes...but it seems to me that these people made choices and that the choices they made reflect their self-absorption.
One of the thoughts that's amused me lately has been the consideration of the wealth of all the well to do yuppies. What are they going to do with their accumulated wealth and toys when they die? I don't mean to be morbid, but if you don't have kids to pass it on to, where is it going to go? to the state? to charities?
I'm reaching that stage in life where I have to start unloading so that my kids don't have to do it after I die. At the moment, we still have our own "stuff" we accumulated, but we also have "stuff" from our parents households. I have three sons married, but at least two of them have wives with very different tastes than mine. No interest. The third would probably take more furniture, but distance is a problem. A fourth son is single and has no use for possessions other than his "toys". I have a daughter who will probably marry within a couple of months - I don't even want to get into _that_ situation - but in our area, buying a house is _very_ expensive, as are rentals, and they just haven't found a way to be permanent yet. So...I've been giving it some thought.

In any case...you know that old saw...? "your son is your son till he gets him a wife..."...It's true.