I worry that she actually is "middle class" and the wealth disparity has moved to the point that those of us who cannot spend $150 on pet insurance or drop $750,000+ on a house or $100,000 on a truck are effectively "poor", at least as far as the market is concerned.

Where does she claim to be middle class? It seems she recognizes she was middle class as a kid, but now is not, considering she said "were" instead of "are."

I have a very different take away from this and that she knows she is wealthy, and trying to impart the understanding of their luck onto her kids...I don't see her at all denying her wealth.

Erm, not arguing that this lady is middle class, but dog insurance cost is not remotely relevant to that lol. I pay that for my dog and make less than 6 figures. My dog is just really important to me, and our last dog cost us thousands and thousands of dollars on vet bills. I'm not going to be blindsided dropping $5k in a day on vet bills again. Our dog has insurance because it seems like the financially responsible thing to do, especially when your dog is extremely active and engaging in sports that it may be injured doing.

So-called upper middle class: "I'm middle class because there are people richer than me"

So-called lower middle class: "I'm middle class because there are people poorer than me"

IMO the middle class is an illusion

I can't afford $150 for my own health insurance

What if how she lives is the way middle class should be? Like, we want to create a system where most people live this way (or have the option to).

Every parent wants to spoil their kids. So they have it better than they had at their age. It’s just how it is. Your parents couldn’t afford Lego? You will buy the biggest set etc

Hello fellow middle-class citizens!

Lol, have you seen the cost of daycare... $1000 per month easy in most cities. Probably not what you meant, but it still made me laugh.

She has a job and 2 kids in child care age. $25 a day seems reasonable even cheap to maintain her career. And if an accountant can pay for themselves on a journalists salary then she should right?

THUTTY SIX BUT LAHST! THUTTY SIX BUT LAHST!

That still does not answer my “why” question tbh.

But I suppose that in a country where “walkable neighborhoods” are construed to be some nefarious communist plot to rob people of their freedom, not walking its a status symbol.

Imagine spending $1,000+ when walking is free.

I can imagine someone with a disability wanting a cart like this to get around, but this woman does not need a fucking golf cart.

We're all going to die because of this overconsumption bullshit.

Also, everything seems to have to be a gift now. Can't just buy a thing and give it to them. It has to wait to be a present. Or maybe that's just my wife.

We specifically don't wait for holidays to give things we want to gift to our daughter (soon to be 3). On her birthday in two weeks she will get a book, a plush animal, and a second hand peppa pig puzzle (I hate peppa pig but she loves it and she doesn't even know there is a show). That's it, but she gets many things throughout the year. My husband hates holidays and celebrations, I think that's where this feeling of "let's please not make a huge stock of presents to give her twice a year" came from. And it is so much less pressure to find "the perfect gift".

And you can get rid of things much more easily. I don't know about you, but if I got a bad birthday present, I tend to keep it, because it was a birthday present. Same for children's stuff. She got that for her first birthday feels different than she got that when she was around 14 months. Somehow it's less sentimental, and I am an awfully sentimental and nostalgic person, so this saves my ass.

Another point is that can change interests so quickly. I would not dare to buy her something peppa pig themed right now for Christmas or plan ahead for her 4th birthday. Or let's say she needs a new bike - why would I wait until the end of summer to give it to her just because it's her birthday.

But talk to me again on September 9th, I usually get very sad that we don't celebrate with a crap ton of presents and decorations and a big party right before her birthday.