Turn Down That Music and Get Off My Lawn Moment?
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I remember kids getting iPod nanos for Christmas. That was definitely a status thing. I don’t think I actually wanted one. But I would have been happy with an mp3 player. Nowadays I can see how convenient Bluetooth headphones are. I still wouldn’t want to get AirPods for a teenager.
I can see why a 12 yo would want skin products for acne. Drunk Elephant doesn’t really do that AFAIK.
I am also kind of proud of my past self for buying random kitchen stuff on sale like a trivet or Swedish cloths which I can give on short notice.
@copa omg that is so awesome re pottery! I am giving a chip and dip bowl to my dad if it survives glazing. I feel like my work isn’t really gift-able yet. I have so many vessels at home haha.
AirPods are a status thing, but they are actually awesome. I don’t really care about having the latest stuff, but my husband bought me my own AirPods last Christmas or the year before because I was always using his. I love putting them on and having my cocoon of quiet. I can also put them in to watch or listen to our tv or a tablet and be in the room with my kids and either hear everything that’s going on, or not hear it all if I want. I use them gardening all summer, and it’s really helpful not to have to pick up my phone and answer a call or text, I can just hear it in my ear and respond with mud dripping down my hands. I have put them in with very quiet white noise and had the best sleep. He has had problems with his once or twice, and apple replaced them. I’m sorry if I sound like an asshole, but my AirPods are one of my favorite things that I use daily.
I like them too! I would never have bought them but my husband gave me his when he bought new ones, and they’re great. Really comfortable too.
I think with the skin care stuff, the influencers are selling the idea that you’ll have perfect glowing skin if you use these products, and what kid doesn’t want clear skin? But of course it’s not going to do what they want it to do.
I don’t think you sound like an asshole at all. You and your husband are adults who work and can splurge on what you want and what works for you. Also, cost per use is real. I returned my AirPods — they didn’t stay in my ears and I found the noise cancellation feature jarring — but I have a pair of Powerbeats Pro and I use them daily. I’ve run two half marathons and a marathon with them. I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth. They were a better purchase in terms of cost per use than, say, the $30 Target booties I bought last spring with good intentions but still have not worn.
I can see a tween or teen saving their money to buy something like AirPods. I did that as a tween when I wanted a portable CD player and again later in my teen years when I wanted an iPod. A responsible teen can probably handle AirPods, too.
Also I’m not totally opposed to spoiling tweens/teens a little sometimes? Again, I don’t have kids, but I don’t mind spoiling his local nieces a little. We’re not over-the-top about it. But like… something like Drunk Elephant is dumb for a tween for the reasons @Kate mentioned. IDK about all pricey athleisure brands but I have a few pairs of Lululemon leggings that I run in, they fit and perform well, they’ve lasted me years… but for a tween, dropping $100 on a pair of leggings or $200 on a matching set that they will outgrow relatively quickly seems like an utter waste.
Those clothes like lululemon and vineyard vibes are status symbols. I misspoke earlier about not having anyone under 30 in the family, I have a cousin who’s 22. They moved to a new state when she was 13 and she went to a big public high school from previously a small, fairly diverse private school. She’s not white, and she was in this big white high school. She ended up sending nudes to boys and bullying girls. She got expelled. And then as punishment she wasn’t allowed to have any more of those brands of clothes. They were part of her whole exerting power or whatever.
Anyway, I have a pair of the “flared leggings” (formerly known as yoga pants) from lululemon, and I freaking love them.
And then later on she got kicked out of her sorority for hooking up with her sorority sisters’ boyfriends or whatever.
She was a top salesperson at Aritzia. Now she’s in fashion merchandising school.
At one point I did think AirPods were kind of AH, like people who look like they’re talking to themselves but are actually on a call. But nah I got a pair last year and I love them.
I saw a Tik Tok that marketers are pushing skincare products because it’s not socially acceptable to push weight loss. So they have to market something else to make women feel like they have to do something. I mean sunscreen is important and nothing wrong with skincare but I think she made a good point.
I remember the girls who had $100 Lululemon yoga pants in high school. Fun times.
Yeah, those are definitely status clothes. I mean, Lulu does make comfortable pants. There’s no getting around that. When I was in middle school we did not have the budget for clothes that I liked and my mom successfully bribed me- she’d buy me nicer clothes for straight As. It worked. At that time, for me the coveted items were Delia’s clothes. The expensive item that I remember asking for were $48 Roxy Boardpants (I lived in a landlocked state.) At the time, $48 was for a pair of flimsy pants for a 12 year old girl in cold VT was pretty crazy and dumb. My poor mom. But I earned them! I so wish I had them to laugh at now.
I bet most of the dancers I work with have their wish lists full of Lululemons.
I just can’t imagine giving my daughter a tub of skin cream that we all know costs $78 dollars. I like that cream, but it’s not worth the cost or particularly nice in any way. I’d be giving my daughter DE empties filled with cerave.
Kate, she sounds like a wild time. I’m so glad I didn’t grow up in the time of having a phone. I was very prudish so I wouldn’t have done nudes, I hope, but the drama and bullying would not be fun. I got my first cell phone in college. By the end of college, I had the status phone, the Motorola razr.
