BUYING OUT CHILDHOOD

While perusing the New York Times this evening, I came across a picture of a treehouse which most every kid and kid-at-heart would die for. The article was entitled "Child's Play, Grown-Up Cash". It discussed some of the high end playhouses that parents have purchased for their children.

As someone who will be a parent, probably within the next year, I understand the desire to provide children with things that I was not able to have when I was a child. But, I think that spending $50,000 (or more) on a playhouse (not the awesome treehouse) that boasts a working kitchen, two floors, vaulted ceilings, and a 32-inch flat-screen TV is going too far, way too far. I will give them a pass on the A/C, though, considering the climate where this playhouse is located.

In the middle of the worst economy most of us have lived to see, what do we teach children by spending such ridiculous sums of money on things they really don't need and many children's parents can't afford? We teach them that there really is such a thing as the "haves" and "have nots", and those that have should lavish their children with the kind of gifts that the have not parents can only dream of giving their kids. We teach them to flaunt what they can do with their privelege.

I don't begrudge the parents profiled in the article who spent $2,000 - $5,000 on a well-made and chock-full of fun playhouse. Those types of custom playhouses don't require a second mortgage and an appraisal. Many parents (although, by no means all) who save wisely can give their children a similar experience.

When I was a child, I was ecstatic when my parents gave my brother and I a box that previously housed the dishwasher they had just purchased. To us, it was huge and perfect, and we immediately set to work making our new playhouse out of it. We had endless hours of fun with that box/playhouse, and it only cost the price of a new dishwasher.

I'm not saying I will definitely relegate my children to boxes if I can afford a little more. I won't be spending the price of a full-sized home on anything I do purchase for them, however. And, I certainly will make sure they value their imaginations over the material where I can. A few plain boxes can become a whole city if children want them to. That is what I want to teach my children.

--Statler