We were invited to Matt's cousin's one-year-old's birthday party. So, we got her a present...a ball. (That is one of our favorite toys and Ellie picked it out) Ellie and Kayden spent over an hour coloring and sticker-ing the wrapping. And I think it looks pretty darn cute. I didn't realize though, that this one-year-old was so 'posh' if you will. (we LOVE these guys, but the wife is apparently from a different 'class,' and I guess I'd never realized it before) Our present, though I still thought it was pretty awesome, stuck out in the stack of beautifully wrapped boxes, with real ribbon (not the paper-ey stuff). Like the kinds of boxes you see in movies, the stacks of shiny, perfect boxes tied with perfect ribbons (In all honesty I didn't even know you could go shopping and get stacks of boxes like that...do you think I could ask the checker at Walmart to wrap my next present up really pretty? :) ). Though the dress was casual (And I think Ellie looks darling) we were very under dressed and ended up eating outside because we were so uncomfortable...well that and Kayden was screaming...
I still think, amongst all the fancy shoes, noise-making toys, and plush arm chair (yes, the one-year-old got a plush recliner...) that the ball in the brown paper with stickers and markers all over it, brought in by the darling two-year-old (Who was SO excited about giving baby P her 'pwresent' that she picked out all by herself), whose pants are too big because her mom won't buy her a pair of long jeans in summer and didn't do the laundry so she had to wear too-big pants (all the other stuff that was clean was even more casual than a brand-spankin' new pair of pants), was the best thing there...for the one-year-old.
Matt and I had a very interesting discussion afterward about where people get money for all the THINGS they buy. (We were noticing how plain our Corolla was next to all the other fancy rides) (Matt's salary is good, we are not in want of anything! And even have pretty much everything we 'want.' And yet, our clothes, our car, our hair styles, our technology, our entire way of life appeared to be as if we were struggling financially. And when I took TWO of the tiny sandwiches got glances of sympathy as if to say, yes take two, I bet you are hungry. (Which is fine by me. I'd rather have the money and not show it than flaunt the money we don't have...not saying we're super wealthy here...) Where do these young couples get that kind of money? Or do they live off credit? Do they have any savings? Or do they really make in the 6 digits?
Don't get me wrong. I love my life. I love that we love to play with balls, and decorate our presents, that we grow into our pants and that I don't spend hours doing my hair, but it just made me wonder and compare. Luckily, I came out thinking I like my way of life better for me. (Not saying theirs is worse...just not for me.)
The moral of the story is, if you invite us to your birthday party, just know that your present will be age-appropriate and wrapped in brown paper with stickers because that's what we've done since Ellie learned how to do stickers, and it's what we'll keep doing because it took up an hour of our morning! :) And I may or may not eat more than my share of itty-bitty sandwiches.
(This sounds like I was looking down on the way these people did things, I really wasn't. I was just interested and curious because I'd never felt the hierarchy--of the appearance--of class so strongly before.)
(And sorry for all the () I got a little carried away with the sidenotes)
I still think, amongst all the fancy shoes, noise-making toys, and plush arm chair (yes, the one-year-old got a plush recliner...) that the ball in the brown paper with stickers and markers all over it, brought in by the darling two-year-old (Who was SO excited about giving baby P her 'pwresent' that she picked out all by herself), whose pants are too big because her mom won't buy her a pair of long jeans in summer and didn't do the laundry so she had to wear too-big pants (all the other stuff that was clean was even more casual than a brand-spankin' new pair of pants), was the best thing there...for the one-year-old.
Matt and I had a very interesting discussion afterward about where people get money for all the THINGS they buy. (We were noticing how plain our Corolla was next to all the other fancy rides) (Matt's salary is good, we are not in want of anything! And even have pretty much everything we 'want.' And yet, our clothes, our car, our hair styles, our technology, our entire way of life appeared to be as if we were struggling financially. And when I took TWO of the tiny sandwiches got glances of sympathy as if to say, yes take two, I bet you are hungry. (Which is fine by me. I'd rather have the money and not show it than flaunt the money we don't have...not saying we're super wealthy here...) Where do these young couples get that kind of money? Or do they live off credit? Do they have any savings? Or do they really make in the 6 digits?
Don't get me wrong. I love my life. I love that we love to play with balls, and decorate our presents, that we grow into our pants and that I don't spend hours doing my hair, but it just made me wonder and compare. Luckily, I came out thinking I like my way of life better for me. (Not saying theirs is worse...just not for me.)
The moral of the story is, if you invite us to your birthday party, just know that your present will be age-appropriate and wrapped in brown paper with stickers because that's what we've done since Ellie learned how to do stickers, and it's what we'll keep doing because it took up an hour of our morning! :) And I may or may not eat more than my share of itty-bitty sandwiches.
(This sounds like I was looking down on the way these people did things, I really wasn't. I was just interested and curious because I'd never felt the hierarchy--of the appearance--of class so strongly before.)
(And sorry for all the () I got a little carried away with the sidenotes)
