Do you believe you did "better" than your parents?

Better financially, yes... because although they did a beautiful job raising 5 kids and we never lacked for anything, I raised one child and in that aspect it was easier. Better at going through life in general without downs and rough patches... no, I didn't do better. They always did much better at "day-to-day living" than I did. They used wisdom for making choices while I often used gut reaction and/or seat of my pants that usually left me regretful.
 
I feel I have done better. They lived in NYC until my Dad retired, Then moved to Florida to a new condo complex. They lived there for over 30 years.
I was much more aggressive in investing, and reaped the rewards, albeit with a few setbacks. My folks did not have pensions, whereas I do get a small one.
My Dad refused to go on a cruise, even when we offered to pay for it, while I have been on 47 cruises. I loved to travel, while my folks would only go to NY to see my sister and her family.
 
I guess you can say I did. My parents were from the south and my father left school early to help his father work the farm. I don't think he went to high school...neither did my mother. But you know what...not much beats "mother wit" and boy did my mother have it. They both worked in factories; my father at an iron foundry, my mom for Curtiss Wright (airplane parts) for awhile, then at a cleaners, then did days work. They managed to make a very nice home and save some money.

I went to college for two years while working full time and ultimately made more money a year than they did, probably combined. What I got from my parents was a wonderful role model for the kind of parent I became to my son. So maybe I didn't do better in that respect. :)
 
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Yes. My mother died in her 30's.. father was abusive, and I was ordered to leave my job at 18..and keep house and raise my siblings

Father worked always, never out of a job that's the only decent thing anyone can ever say about him... and he didn't drink his money away.. but he worked blue collar jobs .. so we went without basic things.. Food and clothing, shoes .. bedding etc..


I have tried in every way possible to be as different and better than him as I can possibly be
 
My parents did far better than I did. Raised 3 children, all went to university. Mom was an elementary school teacher and Dad was a manager at Canadian Tire. Both had university education. They did whatever they could to raise us well and it was a happy home.

I should have saved more money although hubby and I do own our own condo. We try to be very frugal. We go nowhere, not out for dinners (maybe twice a year), have not travelled anywhere since about 1995 except for an overnight stay in Victoria, BC. I cut my own hair and am not into makeup. We have not renovated or bought new furniture since 1997. Luckily, we love being at home, me doing hobbies, hubby gardening and crosswords and sports. We do have a kitty but no children. I am always worried about money. I worked all my life as support staff in educational institutions but was laid off 3 times. Hubby worked as a forklift driver .
 
Financially yes, much better than my grandparents. We were very poor, but we always had enough food. Grandma made most of my clothes. I always looked like the other girls . Somehow my grandma also saved my good eye. I should have said she afforded the eye doctors for me. Grandma died in 1975 and a couple of years later I was in the eye dr chair and we know my bad eye is legally blind and the doctor said what makes you think you need glasses, she told me my good eye was 20/20. How I wished I could tell my grandma that news and thank her from the bottom of my heart. I miss her every day since she left us!
 
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NorthernLight said:
No. My father bought a home and supported his wife and children. That's much more than I could ever do.

My mother was a housewife, which is what I wanted but didn't achieve. (Not for long anyway.)

I am a huge failure, but I'm smart and not an addict. So it could have been worse.
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Maybe things did not go the way you wanted but there is disappoint, hard times, heartbreak for everyone. You are not a failure. I never travelled far, lived in a foreign country, learned a second language, I am not book smart, just have commonsense.
 
Blessed said:
Maybe things did not go the way you wanted but there is disappoint, hard times, heartbreak for everyone. You are not a failure. I never travelled far, lived in a foreign country, learned a second language, I am not book smart, just have commonsense.
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See , that's where I'm different.. I don't have as much common sense as I should have. I'm not educated, having been made to leave school at 15.. I'm street wise.. .. and everything I learned after 15 I taught myself.. I have lived in several countries, and can speak 2 languages at basic level other than English.

I raised my daughter to higher education then encouraged University which she took full advantage of... ( none of which we had any chance at having as children)..
 
I could never do better than my Dad did. He was perfect in every way. My Mom was a good person also. The only difference was my Mom didn't want any other children then my older brother and sister. My Dad really wanted to have another child so she gave in and got pregnant. She lost my twin in the 2nd month and didn't expect me to survive, I did and I Weighed 7 lbs and 14 ounces.
 
No. They were great parents and partners. We had a very happy, loving home.
My father didn’t make a lot of money but we always had what we needed. He often worked 2 jobs.
We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. We always went on a vacation.
I’ve never seen a marriage like theirs. They were truly best friends.
 

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