How much does a 17 year old teenager spend on a pair of shoes?  I wonder …

Our son (not  daughter) is Imelda Marcos reincarnated. I can’t believe I am sharing this story for a weekly wonder but it has to be of value, if not amusement, to someone.  He is the proud owner of four or maybe five pairs of fabulous sneakers.  He is a fan, devotee, collector, admirer, consumer, junkie, “swooner” of…  Nike Dunks. I’m not referring to the regular cool tennis shoes in the $75 – $125 range. I am talking about the ones that are, dare I say, RARE and sold on e-bay for hundreds (and yes, thousands of dollars). These are the colorful shoes with personality pizzazz. They are given clever names like “the King of Hearts” or “What the Dunk” – and only a certain quantity is made – thus producing the high prices.

Our son , who owns and takes very good care of his Nike Dunks, has spotted a new pair that he wants to buy; they are about $600. I know, fall off your chair.  Are you nuts?, I say. We are certainly not funding those and we forbid you to buy them. He protests that he has saved the funds from his job teaching karate. Yes, and you are still not spending your earned money on these; you already have plenty of shoes. (And did I tell you he borrows his dad’s black dress shoes for more formal events?)

I can’t help but feel we have parented poorly – not just because he owns plenty of shoes – but because he would even consider and think it is ok to allocate this amount of money on tennis shoes. Yes, this is about values and all of the interior landscape of what matters and even, what will others think?  What parent (excluding celebrities and GA zillionaires) would ever let their child spend $600 on a pair of shoes?

Help, I don’t even know the wonder question to ask I am so flummoxed.  (Now, that’s a fun word to include!)  How is a parent to respond?    I wonder.