Title says it all.
Not at age 5. If she gets a hover car and a 3 day working week, this position may change!
Not right now. Being eleven months old is no picnic.
My kids are grown. No envy on my part.
Well she does have more money at age 5 than I did until I was 29.
The kids in her kindergarten seem more intelligent than the people I work with.
She definitely has better food and clothes than I do.
But then she has to go to bed at 8:30. And pretty much has someone bossing her about for her entire waking day. So… Hey wait a minute, I have someone bossing me about for my entire waking day and I’d love to get more sleep.
Hmmmm…
I don’t envy my son. He’s 19 and facing college and career during a really messed up time, economically speaking. He’s had these past few very formative years disrupted by a lot of financial upheaval on our end, and he’s scared. I don’t really know what to tell him, except, “might as well stay in college and rack up the student loans now, since there’s no way in hell you’ll get a job right now.” He’ll be stuck living at home with the parents for many years yet.
I tentatively envy my daughter. She just turned 7, and I do have some glimmers that things are getting better. Things are looking up for our family and the country’s economy in remarkable synchronicity, and by the time she’s ready to move into adulthood, there will probably be a job for her, and by the time she’s ready to buy a house, that market will probably have stabilized.
Do I envy them their toys? Oh, yes. They have such amazing toys, both of them.
Do I envy them their essentially indoor lifestyles? No, not a bit. That’s why we go camping as often as possible, so they learn how to play with sticks and flowers as well as XBOX and Shrinky Dinks.
My girls are both cuter and more socially adept than I was at their ages, and they get to do more interesting stuff right now. OTOH they might not get the same opportunities for studying abroad and going to university that I had, and I think they’ve had less security because of the financial straits we’ve been in from unemployment. I don’t think I’d trade, but I’m glad for what they’ve got better.
Well, I wish I were my younger daughter, about to graduate from a good college with spectacular grades and a good education, and lots of lively interests and goals. I’d trade places with her in a minute, and I’m pretty happy with my own life.
Only their youth. The oldest is 40 and the youngest is 33. In that time span I had more fun than should be allowed. They’re all completely absorbed in family and job and making ends meet. I don’t envy that part of it at all.
On rare occasion I envy their status in society. Case in point, I was at the grocery store with my daughters and the elder began skipping down the frozen food aisle. It was just a few skips, but it reminded me of what I can’t do, not really because of physical limitations, but more because of societal approbation. Skipping through grocery stores is the provenance of the young and I am no longer young.
In other ways, their lack of freedom of self-determination, status in society’s decision-making, no, I do not envy them. In the forbearance they are given as their birthright to do things adults are not, sometimes.
Enjoy,
Steven
Kind of. My kids grew up with a parent who loved and encouraged them and taught them how to navigate the adult world. I had a very different experience growing up, and I wonder how I’d be different if I’d had myself as a mom.
I don’t envy the time in history they’re becoming adults in but I do envy that they have parents who pay attention to them, give them advice and help them with things.
Nah, he’s 12 going on 13 and that can be a tough time. I know I wouldn’t want to do it all again even if it did mean cooler video games.
He does have a totally awesome dad though so I envy him that 
I envy my daughter a little that she has four (!) living grandparents who love her a lot. That’s pretty awesome.
I don’t want to trade places with her. Being two is tough.
Though both my kids are doing great, I don’t envy them at all. They are heading for work, though I suspect they’ll enjoy what they do, and I’m heading for end of work, where I can explore the things I don’t have time for now. I’m looking forward to that even though I love my job. So, we are swapping positions.
How can I be? I *want *my kid to be happier and more successful than me in every possible way.
Compared to my wife’s childhood, Sophie has an enviable life. Whether or not Laura actually feels envy… I don’t think so. She’s just grateful that Sophie is able to do the things that Laura couldn’t: take trips, stay in nice places, eat out, have balanced meals (no spam and mayo sandwiches in my house!), piano lessons, lives in a nice house, etc. Laura moved 11 times in 13 years and that was rough too.
Compared to my childhood, Sophie probably has it better, but not by much (given societal changes and such.) So no envy here.
Not one bit. My oldest is miserable all the time with a crappy job she hates and professors with god complexes. My youngest has to deal with being autistic and the other students making fun of her and way too much homework than a first grader should have. They’ve taken away PE and recess and now there’s “silent lunch” so she gets very little friendly interaction. It’s creepy how they are in school these days. It really is like a warehouse. I’d homeschool her in a second if I could.
My life isn’t great but it’s not THAT bad!
No way. He has to be at school at 7:30 where they do a hell of a lot more desk work than I used to and seems to have regressed a bit from stress. He hears no constantly and has far less down time than I did at that age.
My daughter lets things roll off her back more easily but she’s only two and a half so doesn’t have much in the way of responsibility or too many expectations to meet other than halway human, age appropriate behavior.
Absolutely this.
I wouldn’t want to be 13 again, even if I was as confident and supported as she is.