If your sibling went on a tiny tirade about how you’re so much luckier than them because you can afford to spend your money on vacations, would you call them out and tell them the truth about why they can’t do the same things as you?
This 35-year-old man and his 35-year-old wife have two kids, a three-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. He has a 37-year-old brother with a wife the same age as him, and they have five kids ranging in age from 10 to 1.
He and his brother each make a ton of money every year, and they earn similar salaries, meaning there’s no great financial divide between them.
He and his wife could have afforded to have more kids, but they made the choice to no longer grow their family after they welcomed their youngest into the world.
“Mentally, we know that we could only handle raising 2 human beings. And we want to give the 2 kids we have the best life possible,” he explained.
“We live in England; we comfortably live in our 3-bedroom house, and we have a standard 5-seater car. But with the money I earn, I love to take my family traveling.”
He takes his family on several vacations every year, and they also go on long weekend trips. He’s self-employed and can take a lot of time off; he just has to manage his money in a smart way.
Now, his brother and his wife really did want to have five kids, and they aren’t struggling when it comes to raising them. They take one vacation a year, which he knows is a privileged position to be in.
“But my brother has less money at the end of each month because providing for a family of 7 is naturally more expensive than providing for a family of 4,” he added.
“So this means he doesn’t have as much money to travel as much as my family does. And I also don’t think he has the mental energy to take 5 kids on a trip so frequently.”
Today, his wife had to go to her mom and dad’s house unexpectedly, so he took their youngest to his brother’s house to play with his cousins while his oldest was in school.
While he was at his brother’s house, he checked an email for a ski trip he booked for his family to take in February. His brother asked about the email, and so he filled him in.
“He then scoffed and went on a whole rant about how lucky I am, that he wishes he could travel as much as we do, and that I really take my luck for granted. By the way, [he and I] earn basically the same amount of money per year,” he said.
His brother literally went on a five-minute-long rant about his luck. He simply shrugged and reminded his brother that they’re on an equal playing field when it comes to money; it’s just that he didn’t go on to have five kids, which is a lot.
He then told his brother that if he wanted to take more vacations, he shouldn’t have had so many children. His brother laughed, and he was irritated.
“But my son and I left the house an hour ago so I could go and pick my daughter up from school; that’s when I received a text from my brother. He said what I said to him was really uncalled for,” he continued.
He’s left wondering if he was a jerk to tell his brother he should have had fewer kids if he wanted to be free to travel the world.
His brother was being jealous and rude, and all he did was back himself up with basic math. His brother’s little tantrum definitely was born out of envy, and he shouldn’t have lectured him about luck.
All he did was give his brother a reality check, and his brother really should have thought about the financial implications before having so many children. Children aren’t cheap, and certainly not five.
What do you think?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
