The Rough Writer back inna the building…whooooop whooooop and all that!

Right the dilemma held by me right now is spending money buying sneakers for my little people. I am a mother of five – yes I did say five & yes I did lose my mind, luckily I found it after number 5, hiding amongst all the sneakers!

There is nothing more cuter – in my opinion – than infant and junior sneakers and whilst I personally don’t like the whole matching thing with your parent/guardian, I do love to see adult styled sneakers on children. Son number 1 was kitted out in all the latest Jordans, I did a lot of travelling to NYC back then and prices were cheap, $15 for a pair of Jordans my heart would skip a beat.

However as my crew grew and the way my paycheck is now set up, there is no Jordan money. That’s not to say I wouldn’t sacrifice my own love of sneakers to buy a pair for them, but in reality, I’m not trying to keep up with the Jones. I have been lucky in the fact that my other sons are obsessed with football/soccer boots and it’s only recently son number 3 asked for a pair of Jordans. They were priced at £250 the bank account said “ HELL NO”, even if it had said, “HELL YES” I wouldn’t have bought them.

I don’t succumb to everything they want, and whilst I want them to look good at all times, I’m not a parent who will buy everything they desire, their birthday and Christmas gifts are made up of the things they have earned throughout the year. In reality, most kids desire for high-end sneakers comes originally from their parents trying to impress the Jones, through their children. It’s an “I want” culture right now and parents are putting themselves into debt just to silence these little people. Not me, son if you want a pair of Jordans, you better earn those, you better understand the price and value of the trainers you’re asking for, hell if you want £5 credit for your phone – you better earn that and that’s doing above what you’re already doing as your regular chores.

Of course let’s keep it real, their feet are growing at a ridiculous rate and I do keep them in sneakers the boys more so than the girls, but they are sale sneakers, discounted trainers that are still on fire but without the smoking price tag. I have family that will also keep them in the latest heat, but it’s so important to ensure they understand the price of a sneaker, the sacrifice that has to be made, the work ethic that comes from wanting high-priced sneakers, but more than that, help them to realize just how privileged they are.

The Rough Writer