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My Super *Bleep* Sixteen

By Cyn Vela

This is great and so true!!!

Posted by: Raquel | Oct 26, 2006 10:45

The parents of these MTV brats are creating monsters we'll all have to deal with. Message to parents: Just because you CAN afford to spoil them...please don't!

Back when I was sixteen, it was just another birthday with parents, grandparents and a homemade cake. No car.

My daughter turned sixteen a year ago. Yes, we had kids over. My daughter made her own mix for a CD to play on our stereo. I bought some snacks and a cake. No car. She is working to earn her own.

Even if I could afford a lavish affair and a new car, I would never, never just give her these things.

Posted by: Michele | Oct 26, 2006 12:26

I admit, I watch this show. I know these girls are spoiled. I guess I just tune in to make myself feel better, as a parent. What I am really proud of is the fact that my husband's single-dad friend has a 14 year old girl, and she can see right through these phony brats. We point and laugh at the girl whose mother brought her breakfast in bed and she didn't know what to do with the empty tray, so she called her mother on her cell phone to ask (P.S. HER MOM WAS JUST DOWN THE HALL IN THE KITCHEN!) We rant about the girl whose dad hired a no-name to sing at her party and how pissed she was. Or the girl who flew in her private jet to Paris to find "the perfect dress" only to come home empty handed and in tears. Or how about the girl who called her mom a bitch when her mom cancelled her credit card when she ran away for the weekend.
She knows not to expect a party like that and that no one she goes to school will ever have a party like that, and she sees the true ugliness these girls have inside them. She's a sweetheart, and I'm glad she sees right through it all.

Posted by: Mom in WA | Oct 26, 2006 16:14

Mom in WA -

My daughter and I have watched this show together, too. I agree, it's a great way to show your kids how NOT to get by in the world.

P.S. I hope there are far, far more parents like you and Cyn Vela than the MTV Sweet Sixteen type of parents who never no when to say "No!"

Posted by: Michele | Oct 26, 2006 22:57

I watch this with my son and my daughter. We're all equally entertained and appalled at the same time. I think it depends on the kid. If you know that your daughter is going to be envious, maybe it's not the show for her. I'm sure you already point out how ludicrous it is. There are certainly things to learn from the show - many tiimes for me it's pointing out how the parents are not involved with the kids unless there is money involved. I also point out to my kids that even though they don't yet understand, having everything at 16 leaves very few places to go. Like...what is next for these kids? Probably lots of life disappointments, although with big bows attached.

Posted by: Amy | Oct 27, 2006 07:54

When I wrote this piece, it was with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. My kid's not really envious of what they have. Sometimes though, she thinks it would be cool. (And hey, sometimes I think it would be cool, too.) There's probably not a kid alive who watches that show and doesn't have at least a moment of thinking "wow, that would be SO cool." Sure, she'd like to have a new car when she turns 16. Who wouldn't? But she has a good head on her shoulders, and knows she's getting the Jeep. She already has plans to paint it hot pink. And in her infinite wisdom (or what wisdom she has culled from us these 14 years), she knows that although we have just a fraction of what those brats on tv have, we are far richer on SO many levels.

Posted by: Cyn | Nov 02, 2006 12:17

she a little bit but fuken talks way 2 much you know she like fuken bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla you konw well thats all i had to say peace!!!

Posted by: noemi | Mar 20, 2007 10:08

Noemi--three words-"Hooked on Phonics"

Posted by: Amy | Dec 08, 2007 02:29

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