Today, my five year old daughter came up to me and asked, "Mom, why are we so poor?" I replied, in a sweet motherly tone "Honey, we're not poor." She then proceeded to ask, "Then why do you dress like we are poor?" FML
I agree, your life sucks (32950) - you totally deserved it (4517)
On 05/16/2009 at 10:21pm - misc - by Anonymous (woman) - United States (Washington)
i understand your daughter.... my mom dresses really frumpy for her age & my whole family is embarrassed by it, i have been forever, but she's too sensitive for us to say anything. she has a great figure, she just can't dress it! she thinks it's the seventiies most of the time!
#3 - On 05/17/2009 at 3:52am by jasonsexcema
ouch, she's starting off early. i only started questioning if we were poor when i was 15. and we are, but really it doesn't matter. show your kid there are better things in life than money.
#4 - On 05/17/2009 at 3:52am by thattickles
ohhh wow. kids are brutally honest. time for some new clothes....
#6 - On 05/17/2009 at 4:04am by VegasMade702
OUCH. Either your wardrobe hasn't been updated in a while or your kid is a little piece of superficial shit. Either way, she shouldn't be so selfish to think that money is everything in the world. Time to sit her down and teach her that she's wrong to think clothes and money are everything.
you should've said because you're old.
my mom likes dressing and doing her own thing.
she was hot when she was younger, but now...
ouch xD that sucks.
well whatever, she probably just doesnt understand todays fashion since she's so young. Unless you wear that hobo fashion wear
Ouch...
I grew up poor, learning to make my clothes last a long time because of how expensive they are.
I understand she's young and all, but she needs to learn that money doesn't grow on trees.
i'm guessing she's hanging out with little brats who are influencing her. i remember when i was in first grade all the girls wanted to be fashion models and talked crap about anyone who wore "plain" clothes.
#8 She's five.. years... old. Kids act like that, it's no big deal. It's not an FML either. Seriously, YDI for thinking something your five year old daughter Fs your life.
#16 - On 05/17/2009 at 6:27am by arienh4
You should have taken that opportunity to explore what it might mean to your child if you were, indeed, poor. I've had my children ask both if we're rich, and why we don't have some things their friends have. I usually approach sticky conversations like that with honesty and looking for the motivations underneath them. Typically, a child wants to know about their place in the world and how they fit in with their friends. They also get easily embarrassed, so maybe someone at school has pointed out the way you dress...The bottom line is to leave your child feeling secure in their lifestyle and identity, and to listen to them, because maybe there is something you need to change within yourself.
Most of what #20 said is a good idea. I'd ask your daughter what kind of clothes does she think "rich people" wear, and then give her an answer about why you dress "poor," depending on what she says. She's obviously got a misconception about what poor looks like/means, OR you get all your clothes from a thrift store and smell like poor, which is perfectly okay. (:
#4, you have a computer. You're far better off than a lot of people.
#21 - On 05/17/2009 at 9:37am by Waabishkii_ikwe
she probably gets all her views from TV and the people who look "nice" on the street. Just explain to her that people dont get dressed up all the time.
"In a sweet motherly tone,"? Was that part really necessary? It's not like most moms go around yelling at their kids with a harsh, german accent.
And you should know by now that kids always speak with brutal honestly. Learn from it, damnit!
Kids are probably making fun of your daughter. I went through that too, kids are little bastards.
#27 - On 05/17/2009 at 11:35am by Panicattackx5
#21, just because #4 posted on FML doesnt mean they own a computer. It just means they had access- which you can do i most libraries for free! I do it all the time.
And OP: Kids say the darndest things...for all kinds of different reasons. Dont stress it- look at it as an opportunity to do some shopping!
#2 she probably is buying nice clothes for her family thats why she dresses frumpy. Keyword: why do YOU dress like we're poor
I am so going shopping with your daughter one day. She won't sugarcoat anything
#32 - On 05/17/2009 at 12:50pm by karmas_a_bitch
teach your kid some manners, i had way more tact than that at that age, if i had said anything like that to anybody i'd have been chin deep in shit
#33 - On 05/17/2009 at 1:03pm by madame_malfoy
Yeah, ouch, wow, a kid said you don't dress nicely. YDI for caring. @8 What the hell? You're saying that about a five year old? Seriously? Diaf.
I saw this post when i was moderating FMLs. It was spelled all wrong and had really bad grammar. But now it doesn't. weird..
you can still dress nice even if you're poor. i buy all my clothes second-hand and get compliments all the time. but thats sad that a 5 year old thinks that you gotta be rich to look nice...
#38 - On 05/17/2009 at 6:09pm by viisionvalley
Wow you must wear the woooorst and grubbiest clothes for her to come to the conclusion that your family is poor. That is awful. YDI.
Maybe show her how real poor people in third world countries dress and see
if she still feels the same.
She probably got this from a kid at school, and this kind of treatment from the other little kids will continue unless you teach your daughter how to respond.
Next time a girl at school criticizes your daughter for her clothes, tell your daughter to respond "You and your mommy have nice clothes because your mommy is a prostitute and she's training you to be one also. That's why your eyes are a different color than your 'daddy's' eyes."
Even if it's not true, it'll be hilarious when the other little girl goes home and starts asking her mom questions... like "mommy, what's a prostitute?"
Kids say the darndest things! I hope she doesn't turn into a label-chaser... :P J/k. It's probably no big deal.
what is a five year old doing knowing about being poor. That should be a happy time...not one worried about money
#46 - On 05/18/2009 at 2:43pm by LilleyWhite
Oh please, all things that kids say are true. They just don't have the inhibitions that we do. A kid's balls could not have dropped yet, but at the same time he could have more than the rest of us.
#47 - On 05/18/2009 at 8:58pm by philosopher
My sisters have the same mentality and they are twice her age....Don't worry about it, hopefully she will grow out of it.
#48 - On 05/19/2009 at 1:51am by EziyaMinamoto
This is one of the better FMLs I've read. Well done for raising such a hilarious daughter.
#49 - On 05/21/2009 at 9:56pm by andybernard
i think the OP just has a more classical style, actually...cuz so many ppl (that i know) think that if u like classic clothing, ur poor...look @ selena gomez though peeps!
do you dress in browns and greys, with decorative holes and stitches?
she's five. she wants clothes in bright colors with non knockoff disney characters. you can get that shit at ross and stuff, so go buy her a few wardrobe staples. i used to think my family was poor because my clear plastic sandwich bags didn't zip at the top. kids get weird ideas sometimes.
#51 - On 06/10/2009 at 7:11pm by amazingkate
Ouch. Well, kids are honest, but they don't always have the right opinion. For instance, she might not really understand fashion, and just might think you dress poor in her own eyes. Btw, to all the people saying that she is a greedy person that cares about only money, the OP should sit her daughter down and explain to her that money isn't everything; however, children normally don't start maturing enough to see past themselves until they're around eight years old. Until then, most children are extremely self-centered and don't have much empathy for anyone.
