Amy D's daughters interviews--how growing up in the Tightwad household impacted them [Archive]

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gail_d

5-6-13, 11:33am

iris lilies

5-6-13, 11:37am

This morning I found this blog post from someone who "tracked down the Dacyczyn daughters to see how growing up in the Tightwad household impacted them. Jamie is the eldest Dacyczyn daughter, and her interview will appear in two parts."

The blog's name is The Frugal Shrink (http://thefrugalshrink.blogspot.com/); first interview appears on May 6, 2013.

This is supposedly FLickr photos of an Amy D daughter wedding. I can't verify it, but it came from a fellow simple living fan:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmdsnowflakes/sets/72157630521442354/

kitten

5-6-13, 12:10pm

I loved her interview. She's a wonderful girl and a daughter anyone would be proud to have.

Back in the day I never thought one way or the other about Amy D's parenting skills (or lack thereof) - but her daughter's sentence about working along side her father to "pay him back" the $50 in her own sweat for the kayak, just made me feel a bit sick.

I think there's a way to teach kids fiscal discipline without keeping this kind of score sheet. They're your kids for gawd's sake, not your employees.

Mighty Frugal

5-6-13, 12:12pm

thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed this

Geila

5-6-13, 12:21pm

Back in the day I never thought one way or the other about Amy D's parenting skills (or lack thereof) - but her daughter's sentence about working along side her father to "pay him back" the $50 in her own sweat for the kayak, just made me feel a bit sick.

I think there's a way to teach kids fiscal discipline without keeping this kind of score sheet. They're your kids for gawd's sake, not your employees.

That's interesting. I thought it was great that she worked for her kayak.

reader99

5-6-13, 12:42pm

Working to pay for something you wanted was standard in my extended family growing up. We mostly worked for our parents since outside jobs were scarce for kids. I used to get $5 for sweeping out and washing the inside of the car. Took a couple of hours and I still remember feeling proud of how it looked after I was done.

Float On

5-6-13, 12:44pm

Nice interview and blog (the blog owner is just up the highway from me about 30 minutes or so. Think I'll follow that blog for awhile.

treehugger

5-6-13, 12:54pm

Back in the day I never thought one way or the other about Amy D's parenting skills (or lack thereof) - but her daughter's sentence about working along side her father to "pay him back" the $50 in her own sweat for the kayak, just made me feel a bit sick.

I read that really differently from you, especially with the following sentence: "Looking back, I bet it actually cost my dad more than that, but my dad really really wanted to support a budding outdoorswoman so badly that he probably absorbed whatever the real cost was without telling anyone...I never asked."

That seems like a healthy kid-parent relationship to me. Anyway, still working my way through the interview and enjoying it.

Kara

larknm

5-7-13, 11:20am

gail_d, thanks for passing this on. Please let us know if any of the other Dacyzian kids are interviewed or otherwise post.

gail_d

5-8-13, 10:05am

The blog author said that she'd be interviewing two other Dacyczyn daughters so I believe their interviews will be up this week.

Stella

6-2-13, 5:22pm

I just saw this. Interesting reads! Thanks for posting!

I'm not sure why the kayak thing would make you sick, kitten. She admits she flipped through hobbies frequently and a kayak isn't a small purchase.

Blackdog Lin

6-2-13, 10:17pm

I really really enjoyed reading this. I was a huge AmyD fan back in the day. So interesting to see how her kids grew up to see things. Thanks so much for posting the link.....

try2bfrugal

6-3-13, 1:17pm

I'm not sure why the kayak thing would make you sick, kitten. She admits she flipped through hobbies frequently and a kayak isn't a small purchase.

I also think it is good for teenagers to share in the cost of expensive sports equipment, either by paying for part or working off their portion.

tetrimbath

6-3-13, 4:52pm

A similar story was told as part of the movie "Back To The Garden":
"The film captures a time-lapse view of these back-to-the-landers told with moving personal stories of non-conforming tribal families—with lots of freedom but little cash, of unflinching political activism in the midst of small-town, rural America, and hippie kids who today ask whether free love was really free."
http://www.backtothegardenfilm.com/
I particularly remember the story of two daughters, neither of whom followed their mother's model, and each influenced differently. Rebellion is part of maturation, so it is natural that children deviate from whatever lifestyle their parents picked.