What to do when your mom or dad says…
“We can’t afford it”
Berry
1983
Joy Berry is a regular here at ALB. We have posted some of her stuff before here. Usually, these books are about a specific problem from a child’s point of view. Today’s “We can’t afford it” title is about budgeting and making money. I just cringed when job loss was just another day at the office, and garbage collectors were dissed. I also kind of wanted to slap those kids upside the head for being complainers. (Probably not a good idea…)
Mary
Gotta give them a few kudos though–she makes more than he does and it’s stated very matter-of-factly.
This was my first thought, too!
Not a good idea to read a book about bratty kids after watching Hellraiser. I started thinking about sewing those kids’ mouths shut.
The updated version ought to have a section on what to do when Dad can’t afford the $1,000 iPhone X.
I would never count garage sale profits and gifts for birthdays/anniversaries as “income.” You can’t count on those, they are once in a while “extras.”
I think the books rather cute.
While trash collectors make more money than most people think, usually, and they do have good hours (they get off early in the day, and no weekends where I live!), it’s still not a job kids aspire to, or one parents would want their children to aspire to! If they grow up to be one, fine, but really, do you set trash collector up as a career goal?
True story: My young niece was fixated on horses, so for her birthday I took her and a friend to the local racetrack (now closed). When we got to the paddock, a man who looked like life had not been easy — tattered clothing, missing teeth, grubby appearance — was cleaning up after the horses who had just left for the post parade. When I say “cleaning up,” he was cleaning up what the horses had left behind.
My niece’s comment: “Lucky!”
I guess it’s all in your perspective…
I grew up the oldest of six kids, and what we could afford was a constant topic of conversation. Very little whining was tolerated. When my brother complained about a friend (who was an only child) having more than he did, my mother’s comment was: “Which of your brothers and sisters would you like to get rid of so you can have all that?”
“Which of your brothers and sisters would you like to get rid of so you can have all that?”
Want the list?
My childhood riding teacher once asked me to dress as a clown and walk in a parade behind my own horse (being ridden by a local beauty queen) picking up manure.
Even at age 11, I knew that was a lame proposition.
Her Wikipedia entry says she has written over 250 books that have sold over 85 million copies. In terms of quantity that’s more than James Patterson! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Berry
Kids are bigger selfish screaming brats than ever now, and their parents completely clueless, so I can see that this book and others like it have been a smashing success!
Ah, the classic “back in my day things were different,” but in reality, the same things were said every generation and will no doubt continue to be said for every generation to come.
I’m with @Bill on this one. It’s been going on for as long as there has been organized society.
These kids comments are coming from the mouth of a grown up 😉
Most kids are accepting of circumstances, sure some will complain but they’ll only get things if their parents let them….
The artist “Bartholomew” has a style very very similar to MAD Magazine artist Paul Coker Jr. I wonder if it’s actually him working under another name. 🙂
I want to know how much they have in savings to get FIFTY DOLLARS in interest!
I thought that to! I get one penny every 6 months!