Yahoo Lifestyle "The Breastfeeding, In Public, Of A Ten-Year-Old Child" — People From Wealthy Neighborhoods Are Sharing The Wildest Things They've Ever Witnessed Rich Parents Do, And I'm Amazed And Disgusted
In many ways, wealthy parents have it made. They often have beautiful houses, happy children, and a great job. Once the kids get to school age, though, another variable enters families' lives: other parents.
Since rich parents are uniquely situated to report back to us about the goings-on in upper-class communities, I recently decided to ask them about the wildest thing they've seen other parents do. The answers I got back, from parents and kids alike, were unbelievable. So, here are some of the most exciting:
1."I grew up in northern Virginia, which is known for affluent families... I had the oldest, lamest car in the student lot [and] I got called 'white trash' over my car."
Paramount Pictures
"One of my classmates who came from an especially well-off family got into his third accident, caused by his own recklessness, about two months before graduation. His dad had seen my old, cheap car in the student lot. As a punishment for getting into so many accidents, especially-rich-boy's father went and bought a junker car that was just as old as mine but looked even worse, and spent god knows how much on it to make it run.
"He told his son that he would have to drive this junker to school or take the bus because he wasn't paying for a fourth new car before he even went off to college. He told him that if he could manage not to wreck the junker car before leaving for college, then he'd consider getting him a new one again. This dude's girlfriend was embarrassed to ride in that car, and his friends constantly gave him shit for it. It was sad how shallow my classmates were."
—Anonymous
2.At the preschool [I worked at], a well-to-do parent (ex-wife of an MLB player, [with a] big beautiful house with [an] indoor pool and a nanny, etc) SCREAMED at my boss about her daughter missing a $300 jacket."
"My boss was trying to keep her cool and nearly lost it when the parent said, ‘Unlike you, I don’t have to work and I can afford $300 jackets.'
"The jacket was found a few days later."
—Anonymous
3."Quite a few parents I know are real estate agents for themselves and friends to save on the agent fees for the properties they casually invest in."
4."I once sold about $500 of Girl Scout Cookies to the heirs of the Publix fortune. At the time it was $4 a box."
—Anonymous
5."For a third birthday party, a food truck. Yes, an all-paid food truck, like [an] open bar. [And] live baby goats from a farm for a first birthday party —pretty wild."
—Anonymous
6."I was at a PTA meeting where the moms (it was only moms) were deciding how much to charge for a parking space up front at the school. This space would bear your name and be solely resolved for your use."
"A woman suggested the sum of $1,000; I, a lowly school teacher, balked at this number. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, 'If you can’t afford it, you don’t deserve it.' I promptly removed myself from the PTA."
—Anonymous
7."The breastfeeding, in public, of a ten-year-old child. Full-on Robin Arryn from Game of Thrones. I saw this happening on their front deck while walking past their house... yep, just outside the house."
HBO
"[It was] only a week or two after moving into the neighborhood, and it definitely gave me some apprehensive thoughts about the area."
—Anonymous
8."My spouse and I are from pretty modest backgrounds, and now we live in a pretty wealthy area, so we find ourselves doing a lot of double takes on the parenting here. Oh, you bought your 16-year-old a Maybach to celebrate them getting their license?"
"You gave your daughter a new iPhone for her third birthday? They wear $1500 sneakers to a public school because all the other kids have $1500 sneakers and you don't want them to get bullied?
"But the craziest by far was when a teenage boy was drag racing and crashed his car into our friend's backyard, absolutely demolishing the fence and patio. The friend has had to live with this mess for a year and a half now because the parents of the kid are fighting the court case and insurance claims.
"Their arguments keep changing: first, that it wasn't Junior driving the car but his friend; then, that they swerved to avoid an animal; then, that our friend is trying to make false claims because of their [family's] 'status in the community.' Meanwhile, we heard from another friend that, despite the fact that [the kid's] license has been revoked, they bought him another car and are letting him drive it."
—Anonymous
9."[I know parents who] allow their 14-year-old (and by extension, MY 14-year-old) to have unlimited access to weed because their kid was 'anxious.'"
"I had no clue it was going on until another kid got caught, and it was a years-long struggle to keep [them all] apart because despite being told to not allow our kids at their house (the kids definitely weren’t going to listen — free weed!) she continued to allow everyone to congregate because 'If they’re going to do it, I want them to be safe.' It took all my restraint to not burn their house down (when they were gone, of course).
—Anonymous
10."They want their child to sit alone on [the] school bus when the other kids are crammed three to a seat."
—Anonymous
11."Not a parent here, but one classmate’s parents paid the school $30,000 to cover the cost of the musical expenses that year (i.e. costumes, sets, the stipend for the director, etc.) and demanded their daughter be cast as the lead. Surprise, surprise, she was cast as the lead that year."
Fox / Via giphy.com
—Anonymous
12."My high school was a solid mix between upper class and middle class. My family was rather well off, but I drove a 20-year-old minivan to school, whereas many kids drove Teslas and Jeeps and convertibles that their parents gifted to them."
"Oftentimes it was those same kids who went out to eat EVERY SINGLE DAY and lived in literal mansions with ginormous pools and cliffside views.
"These kids didn’t identify as rich, and they had the nerve to call our neighboring school 'the rich school.' They were technically wealthier on average, but still. Also, our football and basketball teams were ridiculously overfunded — like fog machines, blow-up arches to enter the field, light shows, new jerseys every game, etc.
"That being said, most of the kids were super nice and generally less cliquey than most high schools, just a little out of touch."
—Anonymous
13."We lived in an affluent neighborhood with great public schools and a community pool. Most neighbors were spending $25k+ per child for private school, and my son usually had the community pool to himself because they were at the country club pool."
—Anonymous
14."Once I saw a mother dressed as a clown standing outside for pickup. She was handing out lollipops. Everyone was terrified."
—Anonymous
15."My kid's school in Key Largo does yearly school trips to foreign countries like Chile or Panama. They can cost upwards of $4k. Most of the parents don’t even think twice about this cost. The children of the parents who can’t afford it don’t get the experience, and frankly are alienated."
—Anonymous
16."There was a family in our neighborhood who held an annual Christmas birthday party for their two children. I can't remember how old the kids were, but I know they were under 10 years old."
"They held the party at a country club with a well-known (and pricey) Beatles cover band as the entertainment. They also hired Santa to sit in a gorgeous sleigh with eight LIVE reindeer.
"The evening was capped off with a fleet of limos to drive the children around to look at Christmas lights. It was all so over the top and absurd. It's their money to spend how they want, but it was very shocking to me they didn't request gifts or suggest donations for holiday charities.
"I have never in my life seen a gift table with so many presents for two young children. There are so many kids without anything and so many worthy Christmas charities they could have supported. Instead, they asked for gifts for their already over-indulged children."
—Anonymous
17."I grew up in an affluent area. Our private three street neighborhood was bordered on one side by a large lake, and the community's middle school was on the other side. A bunch of us kids would walk the two blocks to school together during our middle school years. But not George."
"George got a swanky new convertible for his 14th birthday (legal driving age is 16). [He] crashed into a tree the next day driving solo to school. Got another convertible, crashed again. This time he hit a street light. The third time it happened he almost made it into the school's parking lot, but hit the huge metal/stone sign with the school's name. This all happened in one week.
"The following week, George had his own limo and driver to chauffeur him the two blocks to and from school every day. Funny how George never made friends at school or in the neighborhood, yet his legend lives on."
—Anonymous
18."My neighbor sent out invitations for her 2-year-old's birthday. She would only accept gifts [that were] $500 and up because she wants 'only the best' for her kid."
—Anonymous
19."An 8-year-old girl at my son’s school has a diamond Cartier bracelet. We know it’s real because after the teacher joked about it being fake, the girl’s mom came into the class and made a big scene about how her daughter would never wear 'a tacky fake.'"
"The kicker is that this is a public school and the family is maybe upper middle class at best. Perfect examples of “money talks, wealth whispers.”
—Anonymous
20."I enrolled my child in an exclusive private school, and I noticed a stark difference immediately. The parents were seriously outspoken with their opinions and behaved however they pleased, and their children were generally more disrespectful compared to those in public school."
NBC
"My child quickly picked up on these behaviors and would come home telling me about incidents that confirmed my initial observations.
"I was new to the community and tried to keep a low profile, so the wildest thing was being subpoenaed twice to testify in divorce court. I could have testified about the drinking, drugs, cheating, criminal activities, berating, abuse, [or] child neglect, but they never asked those questions. It came down to he said, she said."
—Anonymous
21."[My child goes to] public elementary school, but a high percentage of upper-class families attend. [One day,] a neighbor’s daughter wasn’t paying attention to where she was running and ran into the tetherball pole.
"It [scared] her but she was fine, and probably learned a valuable lesson. At the next PTG meeting, the girl's mom demanded they pad all the poles on the playground. This poor little girl grew up with mommy and daddy hovering over her 'padding poles' for the rest of her school years. It must have been crippling for her."
—Anonymous
22.And finally: "My parents have a neighbor who was over for a BBQ. While discussing college plans for his daughter, he lamented over the 'tragic' housing options for freshman, and then casually mentioned he purchased a townhome for her to live in so she wouldn’t have to worry about roommates or shared laundry and could focus on her studies. She’s attending a school in LA."
Some of these were almost unbelievable. Some parents can be so entitled! If you have your own story about the wildest thing you've seen a wealthy parent do, drop it in the comments below; I'd love to read it. Or, if you want to share anonymously, feel free to check out this Google Form. Who knows — your story may be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed story!
