Some things I now have opinions on
I've thought about some of these topics before, or had vague sentiments about them. But watching Bridezillas today made me realize I've crystallized ACTUAL OPINIONS on a few topics:
1) I'm not into conflict diamonds. I can do estate jewelry or diamonds grown in a lab. But I reject out of hand the diamond aspect of the wedding industrial complex.
--I didn't used to notice or care about diamonds. All the women in my family are pretty into collecting jewelry (and pawning it to move the family forward in hard times). But then I read this and it made me just not want to buy in to some aspects of jewelry. Mostly the engagement diamond stuff.
2) I want my future husband to have a voice and an opinion not just on our marriage, but also on our wedding. I do not want a "show up and say 'I do'" kind of husband.
--I really don't have a vision of a big white wedding. I have ideas about what would be fun... but it'd only really be fun to me if my partner were 100% into it, as well.
3) I want my children to have jobs in their teens. I want them to pay for their own luxury goods and/or car.
--I had a job, as did my brother, but neither of us had to pay for our own cars or computers or phones. Not that I'm ungrateful for having these things covered, but I feel like valuable financial lessons were missed there. I think I would've been less anxious about debt management if I'd actually had to do it under my parents' roof. And maybe my brother would've wrecked fewer cars if he'd actually had to pay for it :-/
4) I want my children to engage in routine fitness activities from a young age.
--My parents never forced this on us because they didn't want it to be "an issue." Consequently, both my brother and I hated and avoided fitness while gorging on unhealthy food because that's what our parents did. Not surprisingly, all four members of the family suffered Fat Years and really crappy body image. Like beyond the normal adolescent kind. I want my kids to be "fit literate" such that if they DO find themselves stuck in a Fat Year or no longer like their body image, they are empowered to take control of it without resorting to disordered eating or doomed-to-fail fitness crazes.
1) I'm not into conflict diamonds. I can do estate jewelry or diamonds grown in a lab. But I reject out of hand the diamond aspect of the wedding industrial complex.
--I didn't used to notice or care about diamonds. All the women in my family are pretty into collecting jewelry (and pawning it to move the family forward in hard times). But then I read this and it made me just not want to buy in to some aspects of jewelry. Mostly the engagement diamond stuff.
2) I want my future husband to have a voice and an opinion not just on our marriage, but also on our wedding. I do not want a "show up and say 'I do'" kind of husband.
--I really don't have a vision of a big white wedding. I have ideas about what would be fun... but it'd only really be fun to me if my partner were 100% into it, as well.
3) I want my children to have jobs in their teens. I want them to pay for their own luxury goods and/or car.
--I had a job, as did my brother, but neither of us had to pay for our own cars or computers or phones. Not that I'm ungrateful for having these things covered, but I feel like valuable financial lessons were missed there. I think I would've been less anxious about debt management if I'd actually had to do it under my parents' roof. And maybe my brother would've wrecked fewer cars if he'd actually had to pay for it :-/
4) I want my children to engage in routine fitness activities from a young age.
--My parents never forced this on us because they didn't want it to be "an issue." Consequently, both my brother and I hated and avoided fitness while gorging on unhealthy food because that's what our parents did. Not surprisingly, all four members of the family suffered Fat Years and really crappy body image. Like beyond the normal adolescent kind. I want my kids to be "fit literate" such that if they DO find themselves stuck in a Fat Year or no longer like their body image, they are empowered to take control of it without resorting to disordered eating or doomed-to-fail fitness crazes.