Too Young For a Certian Purse?

[QueenTrident]

Never mind...saw it was answered. I must read the whole thread before posting from now on.

 

[Maleficent13]

Just to throw in here, I don't find it odd that tinkerbellish would be a fan of No Doubt for 9 years. When I was in high school, I babysat a pair of sisters, 4 and 6, and they were wild about several musical groups. They knew all their songs by heart and watched their videos. My boss' 4 year old grandson right now is in love with the Dixie Chicks...he knows all their songs and carries the CD with him everywhere.

As far as the purse issue, I think it looks appropriate for someone that age, and I know when I was that age my mom would ocassionally buy me high-end stuff for birthdays or Christmas. We were by no means well off, but I liked one bigger present better than a bunch of little "stuff". I took care of my things and never lost anything nor had anything stolen.

I think the teacher was a bit rude, IMO.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Maybe the purse is not a status symbol for Tinkerbellish. Maybe she really likes it.

I have spent $77 on a Disney Snowglobe before. I rarely spend money on myself, but maybe once a year I'll buy something like a Snowglobe. Someone who doesn't collect them or like them could just as easily say I was bragging, or priveldged. Am I? Not really. But we all have something we enjoy or collect. At least most of us do. Maybe Tinkerbellish collects purses and this is something she enjoys.

Life would be terribly dull if we could not occasionally treat ourselves to something we liked that happened to cost a little more.

 

[SC Minnie]

I think tinkerbell of winter just wanted to stir things up and that is exactly what happened. Why should be keep feeding it???

 

[Twinkles6892]

Ok, well apparently somebody (tinkerbell of winter) doesn't know the meaning of community board, as in Community, as in everybody as in no post is too big or too small.


As to answer the question. All of the gym teachers I've had have been out of their minds. I have a 50 dollar purse, one of those initial bags made of real leather (I got it onsale from my Grandmother) but no one's ever told me that it's too expensive for me.

 

[Crankyshank]

I personally think a 13yr old is too young to have that many designer purses but that's jmho. Especially being still in school where the likelyhood of it being damaged or stolen is high. I should clarify my statement that I am more referring to the more expensive L.A.M.B bag she refered to as well as the other designer purses.

It doesn't excuse the teacher from being rude, though, which she was

 

[CheshireVal]

As a middle school teacher in a "rich" private school, I say YES that's too expensive for a teen to be carrying around to school. I can't tell you how many Prada, Burberry, Luis Vuitton (sp?) purses that show up in the lost and found here. I think a lot of kids are just a little too absent-minded (or too distracted at school) to be keeping up with expensive things like that.

I would let my daughter (if I had one) have an expensive purse if she bought it with her own money that she earned, but I probably wouldn't let her carry it to school.

And I'm not sure how I'd feel about her having SO many of them!!!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

The day my DDs can have one of those purses is the day they've got jobs, are self-supporting, don't owe us any money, and can buy them for themselves. And I consider them very fortunate for growing up knowing the value of money and hard work, and appreciating what they do have.

As far as the teacher's comments, we've had some truly wonderful, caring, motherly teachers that my DDs have gotten close to, and if one of them said something to my kids, that'd be fine with me.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I'm just curious....to the people who think these bags are too expensive for a teenager to have, how would you feel about a teenage having several expensive Disney Snowglobes, harmony Kingdom figurines or other unecessary object that are considered "collectibles" if they were getting them as gifts/ buying them with their allowance/babysitting money?

I'm not trying to stir things up, I'm really just curious because I always had snowglobes, from the time I was younger than Tinkerbellish and my mom never minded (heck - that was usually my b-day and Christmas gift from her) and no one ever seemed to think it was too expensive (or if they did, they didn't say so), yet these things cost about the same as the purse here.

 

[Crankyshank]

I have a hard time believing a 13yr old has earned enough money babysitting to have 11 expensive purses. We're talking over $1000 worth of purses- probably closer to $2000. The particular purse she was referring to is actually cheap compared to the others she described having.

If she was earning the money and buying them herself then that's her business. I would question the logic of parents that allow her to spend all of her money on trendy purses that could be stolen or damaged quite easily. And there's a big difference between owning more designer purses at 13 than most upper middle class women I know - and collecting snowglobes.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

It's hard to imagine my boys wanting to buy snowglobes or figurines, but I certainly would discourage spending such a significant amount of money on it. And if they did, the certainly wouldn't be taking the snowglobes and figurines to school.

When they are adults, if they have enough money to spend $1,000 on frivilous showy items to parade around ... that will be their business. But as long as I'm the Parent, it won't happen.

Of the money my kids earn, 1/2 goes into their savings accounts and another 10% to charity. They both saved enough money to buy their own computers last year. I'm sure they are going to want cars when they are 16 and then we'll have college to consider. I don't think there is any danger of us running into such an excess of money that I need to worry about whether or not my kids can have snowglobe collections.

 

[Beauty]

As a self proclaimed purse snob I do confess to haveing some pretty expensive purses in high school. I think probably 9th or 10th grade was when I started liking nice purses. I remember haveing a white Dooney and Bourke that I took for at least a year. I still have that purse and wallet today in my closet! I always liked Liz Claiborne Purses and they weren't overly expensive. I think my mother introduced me to how much nicer leather purses were and she was right. To this day I'm spoiled rotten when it comes to purses.

 

[decker96]

Originally posted by EsmeraldaX
I'm just curious....to the people who think these bags are too expensive for a teenager to have, how would you feel about a teenage having several expensive Disney Snowglobes, harmony Kingdom figurines or other unecessary object that are considered "collectibles" if they were getting them as gifts/ buying them with their allowance/babysitting money?

I'm not trying to stir things up, I'm really just curious because I always had snowglobes, from the time I was younger than Tinkerbellish and my mom never minded (heck - that was usually my b-day and Christmas gift from her) and no one ever seemed to think it was too expensive (or if they did, they didn't say so), yet these things cost about the same as the purse here.

I think it's different because you weren't taking them to school where they might be stolen, which is what some other posters are saying could and does happen.

I don't think there's anything wrong with collecting anything (even purses!). If you like and enjoy them, what's the problem. My sister has always loved The Little Mermaid. She has TONS of Little Mermaid stuff (snowglobes, figurines, prints, etc.) that she both bought and was given to her through junior high, high school and college. Do I think it's way to much stuff, yes, but she would say I buy way too many books when I could easily check them out from the library. Everyone likes different things, to each their own!

 

[LisaZoe]

I say as long as you are mature enough to take care of your possessions, what does it matter how old you are or how much they cost? When my DD gets older, if she wants to spend her money on something like this, I'll definitely consider it. If I don't think she's ready for the responsibility, I'll say no. If I think she is ready, we'll discuss what it means to have something that many people cannot afford, how it doesn't make one better than those people and that there are risks in owning something of value in that it is generally more distressing to lose something that cost $75.00 than it is for something that cost $7.50.

I think this gets back to a very basic discussion of spending priorities. To me it's not really all that much different than the decision of offsite, Value, Moderate or Deluxe resort. Some people just cannot imagine paying an amount for a room that others will pay without a second thought. The former's spending priority is different than the latter's but neither is wrong.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Pam
And Jeff, I am a little disappointed in your comment in hoping that the OP loses her purse. That comment seems so out of character for you. When my DD was 13, she accidently left her CD player and a stack of CDs (to the tune of over $400.00) on a post at the airport because we had to unexpectedly dash from part of the airport to another.

I'm sorry that you are disappointed in the comment. The whole idea behind me saying that I hope it happens now is that it may teach her a lesson about bringing an expensive (for a 13 year old) purse to school where it might get stolen simply because it's a status symbol for some. It would be really sad for her to lose it, and I'd be bummed if I were her or her parents, but I would rather her lose it now and learn that bringing an expensive purse to school is inviting a problem than to learn it years from now when there would be much more important things in it.

How would you feel if your Gucci purse stolen from your table at a restraunt tonight? Chances are it was stolen because it was Gucci - and chances are a $15 purse you got on sale at Penneys or something would not have been stolen. How long would it take you to cancel all credit cards, replace keys, etc? Hard lesson to learn now.

IMHO your DD losing her CD player is a different story. It was an accident that happened when you all were in a hurry, when in a normal situation she would have remembered it. Something that could have been avoided. I would also be sad that she lost it, but in this case the OP is choosing to bring the purse to school where it may end up being stolen.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by minniecarousel
"As a Love and Logic parent, it's mean to say but I hope it does get stolen, for a myraid of reasons"

Wow - that's kinda harsh. So "love & logic" wishes bad things to happen to their kids?

It does sound harsh, but yes. When the kids are little, they have little consequences for things happening. Bigger kids, bigger issues. Of course if it happens you are sad that it happened, but certainly happier that it happened now and can be a 'cheap lesson' and not later when it was a bigger issue and bigger lessons.

 

[Pam]

chances are a $15 purse you got on sale at Penneys or something would not have been stolen.

Ummm... actually, Jeff.... it was $20.29 on sale at the BonTon!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

My kids are growing up with a mother (me) who loves a bargain, so at least some of that has rubbed off on them, altho they have more than I had when I was a kid, which was almost nothing.

My oldest DD is going to Spain with her school next Spring, so thankfully she's far more interested in spending some of her money on things like a digital camera and new luggage, in addition to contributing to the $3000+ trip herself. And she just turned 16 and is looking forward to buying herself a car, and we're going to insist that it's not a cheap car that breaks down. She would like to get herself a printer for the camera and possibly if she can swing it, a video camera for Spain. (She asked me to spread the word when the grandmas ask about Christmas gift suggestions that she would like gift certificates for Best Buy, since she'll be buying these herself). All of these things are expensive, and she may or may not lose them or have them stolen, but her goal is to make the most of a wonderful experience. I honestly don't think she's interested in showing off expensive pocketbooks instead. But I wouldn't be surprised if some, if not many, of these kids who are getting pocketbooks that cost that much aren't too worried about having to pay for these other items themselves either.

It works for us, and my kids are hardly "suffering" for it.

 

[AdventurerKat]

1. I think your teacher was out of line.

2. If you want to spend your money on expensive purses be it from a pt job, birthday/xmas money, money your parents or grandparents gave you to buy them, good for you! You are a fortunate girl to have such money and I don't think anyone should begrudge you that.

3. I would never spend that much money on a purse myself, but have been known to blow a few bucks on other such trinkets that others might be "HUH?"

4. Tinkerbell of Winter, I see that you are new and perhaps dont understand the meaning of Community Board, that is for all our community be them 8 or 80. What you said was rude. You have your right to your opinion but you don't need to be nasty about it.

5. Have a good day everyone.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Pam
Ummm... actually, Jeff.... it was $20.29 on sale at the BonTon!

Hey, they have more on sale:

http://www.bonton.com/catalog/ViewItems.asp?PageNum=3&DeptID=8