They're Not Spoiled Brats ... They Are Just Spoiled!

As my girls are getting older, they are asking for more expensive and nicer things, which they get if they have good grades and do what they are told. What is wrong with that?!?!

I'm sick of people commenting on the fact that my daughters have many things that other children do not. But I feel that if you have the financial means, why not reward your children for their good behavior and for their hard work in school? I understand that not every girl gets the "Super Sweet 16" that they got and not every girl has access to an extensive collection of Christian Louboutins and Chanel dresses, but if you have it, why not share? And is it anyone else's issue the way I spend my money ... should I just let it sit there? I mean there is enough to go around and I can't keep it when I'm dead.

I want my daughters to experience things I didn't at their age. I want them to travel the world and expand their knowledge, but to some people, taking them to Europe was spoiling them and required remarks like "Well aren't you just the luckiest rich girls I've ever met," and I think that is uncalled for. They wanted to see where the Holocaust took place, where the Berlin Wall was and where the king lived in Versailles. What is wrong with that? When I told someone they were spending their summer before college (hopefully Yale, Harvard or Princeton, *fingerscrossed*) volunteering to teach children English in Tanzania, I was told "you just foot the bill for any vacation, don't you."

I don't get any of it ... is what I give my children anyone else's business, and if they are very grateful and thankful, why not let them have these experiences and luxuries?!