Tamsyn - I like to think that he simply has totally awesome parents that understand him without him having to verbalise it. LOL. Not that I’m advocating buying $90 jackets in order to win a “totally awesome-est parent of the year award”.

Jeanie - yeah, farmboy laughed last night when I told him about it too. One of those “just came to me as I was typing” comments.
German Romance - yeah, what memories are made of. Sadly most of our family holidays only bring back bad memories for me. But I intend for that not to be the case with our kids.

Dina - interesting to know the psychology theory may well be accurate!!! I was one of those “never asks for things” kids too. Didn’t get me anywhere (not that I was ever trying it deliberately). I guess that makes me more determined that he doesn’t miss out either.

Snos - I think you’re right. It will be money well spent. It’s not like I intend to fill his wardrobe with $90 garments. I think when you’re used to being careful with money all the time, it feels strange to suddenly go out and blow a heap.

Sharon - I think I’ll take your advice. We did have fun and most of what we bought will get used and enjoyed for some time to come. I am hoping that any extra kg’s I put on from our eating habits while away will be here today and gone tomorrow though.

I’m so glad you’re back! I missed you!

I like to work things out as a “cost per use” deal - it is easy to justify the money spent on certain things when you realise how much they get used. For example, our coffee machine was just under $900, but we have made literally thousands of cups of coffee with it, and it is the same quality as what you’d buy in the shops for $3-$5. So if I had gone out and bought all those cups of coffee, it would have cost me thousands of dollars.

That may not make any sense, but it works for me.

Just FYI - Some of the clothes my parents bought for me as a teenager still reside in this home, and I haven’t lived with them in 16 years. Occasionally you luck out and get excellent value for money.

It is like buying a pair of Doc Maarten shoes. Those things last for years. They do cost more when you buy them at first, but the pair I’ve had for over 10 years has been worn so many times to so many places..

I’m not a big fan of the expensive running shoes, though - especially when feet are still growing. I know someone who used to buy $100 nikes for her kids every 6 months or so and I just couldn’t see the point of that. You might as well get shoes from Rivers for $29-39 and they’ll be just as comfortable and probably last better too. But once my feet stopped growing I got a great pair of “new balance” shoes - they lasted 12 years and went to the gym 5 times a week for a good amount of those years.

I have always been weary of the cost of stuff and would rarely ask for my parents to buy me things–especially clothes.

So of course they were often eager to go buy me stuff–especially clothes.