Are we spoiling our kids by owning DVC?

[3DisneyNUTS]

You know don't ovethink it. Life is short. I feel we are teaching our son that things are done according to a "plan". We planned to buy house, we planned to get married, we planned to have him, we also made it so we could afford something like DVC and enjoy our lives and vacations.

You could set these things up as goals in life. To have things and be financially able to vacation more than once a year (or even at all) is not spoiling kids but showing them that if they work towards something, they can have it too.

 

[KLR-wlv]

I think kids get spoiled when material things are given instead of time or love. I think parents that have the means for family vacations - no matter how extravagant or not - and do not take them because they're too frugal or don't want to take time off work or "make" the time - are doing more damage than indulging kids in taking great family vacations. I went on fabulous vacations as a child - my DH did not even though they had money to - so DH gripes about all the great trips we go on - but he enjoys every one. He feels "guilty". I don't. We only have one childhood to spend with our kids and I certainly don't expect to regret that we went to DW too much when they're no longer kids! We make vacations a priority the way other people may make season tickets to professtional sports do - or people who have to have a new car every 4 years - it is all a choice in where you spend your money. Is prioritizing spending time with your family on vacation more "spoiling" to your kids then buying expensive toys for yourself? All the pictures in our photo albums are of vacations, christmas, and birthdays - all the stuff in between doesn't quite get remembered in the same way. So we have a lot of pictures of Mickey and Belle in our photo album...

 

[joepoe]

Originally posted by Par8hed
Yes! Spoil the kids if you can! We will all be dead soon enough (sorry for the reality check). And what will we leave behind? Ultimately....it will be memories. And I want my Son to say " ...remember Dad.....sure he was an @#$%$$@ and everytyhing, but I'll be darned if he didn't devote himself to making my childhood as wonderful as he possibly could!"... I hope that my Son will miss me as much as much as I miss my own father. Spoil 'em, spoil 'em, spoil 'em.

Somebody told me once that when you are old and gray, no one will remember but YOU:

1) that you didn't take your vacation time

2) that you didn't take your vacations where you wanted to take them.

3) that you didn't take enough of them...

 

[kenziesmamaw]

There is so much insight here and I have to agree....life is too short to worry about vacations spoiling your kids. This week alone I have heard from more than one family that lost a loved one to a sudden accident....at least 3 were children. A dear friend and her husband have saved for years to be able to travel when they retired.....less than a month after her retirement she was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and the doctors are now trying to keep her alive through Christmas.

Don't mean to be depressing and I certainly am not rationalizing spending money inappropriately or trying to buy anyone's love, but life is short and none of us are promised tomorrow. If we don't take the time now to spend with the ones we love making memories that will last forever, there may be a day that we will regret that we didn't.

Rather than worrying about spoiling our kids, grandkids or ourselves....we are going to make the necessary sacrifices to pay for our DVC purchase and squeeze every minute of enjoyment we can out of it. No matter what the future holds, we won't look back and say "if only we had......."

 

[Laurajean1014]

Yes, but that is our right as parents.....

Besides, my son is an over-achiever, gets great grades, plays on a very competitive sports program, plays an instrument and has a good attitude!

Why wouldn't I give him a little WDW a few times a year?????

 

[walter]

Not just our son, but family members who have visited us while staying at OKW/HHI resorts. The latest was in October when family from Va. visited us and besides the accommodations, the trip over to the SSR pool (& see that resort) was overwhelming to them.

 

[TomD]

1st let me say I do not own DVC but we have been looking into it very hard. We are not rich and we save hard to do the things we do

Now I have have 2 DD's ages 5 and 9. This will be our 3rd trip to Disney in 3 yrs. We also went to St. Thomas for Thanksgiving 2 yrs ago, and Nevada with them.

We also will be bringing them to WV and PA in April of 05.

I do not consider this spoiling them. Yes they get to travel and do some things not all kids their ages get to do.

The kids know we save our $ to do these things with them and they know they have to save theirs. We make them put half of all the $ they get from birthdays Xmas Easter or any other time nana and poppa send up $ for them and the other half they can do what they want with. They also know if they save it towards a vacation I will match whatever they save . Makes it easier on my wallet...lol I feel if they get into the habit of saving $ at an early age they will be better off when they leave the nest.

Now we are going for Xmas and they have no clue but they think Nana is coming up to go shopping the day after Xmas. And I told them I would match their $. Both have saved over $100.

Guess what I am trying to say in this long post is that they are only as spoiled as we as parents let them get. If being spoiled is working hard,saving money to do things that we enjoy doing as a family and enjoying life in general then I would everyone on this board is spoiled

 

[mom2rb]

When we bought DVC last year we put some things on hold. When the boys ask why we can't get Daddy a bigger car so that they can ride with him (he has a two seater)? I let them know that we are paying for DVC so that we can go to Disney often and bring Grandma with us. Same thing when they ask about getting a house with their own rooms.

As long as my kids know that we are giving up some things to be able to go on vacations then they won't be spoiled.

 

[roadtripper]

We don't spend a lot of money on clothes and toys--
We have 12 dollar cable--
We drive cheap cars--
We go easy on Christmas and birthday gifts--
We let the kids buy souvenirs with their saved-up Disney dollars only--
We usually stay in a studio so we can "share the wealth" by bringing family--
We show our kids how to donate to charity, (from a blue state, no less )--


Hopefully it will all even out, but if it doesn't, and they turn into ungrateful spoiled rotten kids, we will have no problem leaving them with the relatives that think we're spoiling them, and spoiling ourselves!

 

[twinmomplus2new]

I would say my children are spoiled but not rotten. Owning DVc has definately increased the times per year we do travel to Disney. HOWEVER even when money was tight( Newly married, buying a house) I still took my dd almost 18 every year no matter what. I do notice they ask all the time can we go now, can we go now? But if I stop and think about it, My dd would only go once a year and she too asked all the time too. I think it's more a reflection of being little and not having a concept of time VS expecting to be taken.

My DVC was a gift from my brother. He wanted his neices and nephews to make sure they went every year. So in 1998? He gave me DVC for the kids and myself. So I continually remind my children, That you get to go and stay at the Boardwalk because Uncle Daniel bought it for you. That is very understood and I think appreciated.

Most of entire family is Disney obssessed and several of us are DVC owners, We always go together, so it is a family time situation. That is the value in it for me. My kids would be devasted if everyone wasn't there.
That being said My inlaws and Dh hate Disney. they are of the opinion that once you have been once. You need not ever go again. They are furious that I go so frequently. When I first had DVC they made a big presentation of an envelope full of cash( spending money for the week) Now they have not done that inyears. No matter how many times, I try to explain, that I am not paying Lodging everytime I go, They simply do not get it.It's unfortunate because I think if they went just once they would love it. They have never been, My MIL won't fly, and he won't leave her so thats that. They are ultra negative about it. I just have learned to smile and ignore it.

And by the way ROADTRIPPER $12 cable! I am impressed.

 

[Alexander]

Good grief! Kids are for spoiling. Besides, it's nobody's business! People always question how my 5 year old has been to WDW more than ten times. Too bad! Life is too short and I will NOT say "what if..." "I wish we..." etc. DH and I both work very hard and how we choose to spend our money is our choice! We pay our bills on time and are not over-expended. Even if we were, too bad! Keep on spoiling those kids, just keep their feet grounded.

 

[roadtripper]

"And by the way ROADTRIPPER $12 cable! I am impressed."


Well, we were lucky that the Red Sox playoffs were on basic cable, or I might be divorced right now

I just can't pay 51 dollars a month now that I think in terms of park passes and plane tickets. That's why I email from school instead of using my 9.95 dialup Internet at home!

 

[twinmomplus2new]

Down here on Old Cape cod. I am paying 165 per month. for cable plus internet through Comcast! $51 is a bargain!

 

[greenban]

Life is short.

Life is unpredictable.

Life can be hard.

Cherish your children and savor your time with them, at DVC or elsewhere. Most regrets start with "I wish I had....."

 

[Goofyzgurl]

I don't think I'm spoiling my children at all, if anything I'm spoiling myself. DH and I work hard during the year, and this is what we want to do with the money we save. I don't borrow from anyone to do it and we don't take the food off the table for us to do it. We offered dd1 if she wanted to go for the weekend for her bday and she said she'd rather stay home and have her friends over. She doesn't take it for advantage that we go once or twice a year. She knows that not everyone can go and we can't go all the time. We're just making memories for later. It's no one's business what you do with your money. Another life is too short quote : Life is too short to worry about what other people think.