My brother is upset that I spent $5000 on Hannah Montana tickets for his daughter for her birthday! Why?

Question

Before I even begin to detail the conundrum I find myself in with my younger brother, may I just quickly state what a positive bundle of energy this young Miley Cyrus truly is? I can see her as being the one person that can save and unify the American music scene!

Getting back to the question at hand. My brother is upset that I spent $5000 for 4 tickets and a limousine to the Hannah Montana concert in our city. It was my niece’s birthday and I wanted her to enjoy this landmark event in her life! My brother Robert states that he is trying to instill in his daughter a sense that you do not have to follow trends in order to be happy, and would prefer his daughter find interest in other activities.

As I stated to him, how absolutely silly he is being. He is absolutely leaving his daughter in peril of being left behind if she is not cognizant of what trends are around her.

My goodness, what is wrong with having a little fun?

Americans have such a difficult time appreciating the arts.

She absolutely enjoyed herself, and it was an absolute honor to help her celebrate her 5th birthday in such a wonderful fashion.

Answer 1

Lets clue you into the American culture. McDonald's and the dollar theater for a re-run of what was the last summer blockbuster visual offense. Transformers or Spider man, something weak like that. After which the will go to Best Buy and spend $800 American dollars on a XBox and waste their night on Halo. To finish the night burp the worm to some crappy sitcom actress.

Answer 2

I am going to answer this in the spirit of you actually being serious in your question, and not simply spamming to see how many people you can dick with.

There is absolutely nothing with a little fun, I agree with you.

The problem I am seeing here, her age aside, is that you have overstepped your bounds. Your niece is your niece, not your daughter. It is your brother's legal and moral responsibility, right, privilage, and burdan to raise his daughter. Well intentioned or not, If I am to take this situation at face value, your choice to provide this gift has shown disrespect to the job he's trying to do as a father. A gift of love or not, if it goes directly against what a parent is trying to accomplish for his child's wellbeing as he sees it, then you are out of line.

What you could have done better, is speak to your brother beforehand and ask if this was an appropriate gift for your niece, and then possibly negotiated your case. In then end though, you would still be obligated to respect your brother's wishes in the matter.

I don't know what your or your brother's socio-economic statuses are, but unless you are of very similar higher end economic incomes, the cost of this gift might also add a strain by itself.

Would he be concerned about you overextending yourself?

Would you provoke jealousy in him that he couldn't provide for his own daughter as well?

Would he be angry at you for flaunting your greater success as he might see it?

And is it possible you are compensating for a feeling of jealousy or inadequacy yourself by picking this fight with your brother? Is he older? Is he the 'favorite' brother? Is he the one who 'always does things right'? I know, this last bit is a bit too psychoanalytical for the question...but, hey, think about it anyway.

In a blunt nutshell? What you have done, intentionally or not, is disrespect your brother as a parent, as a man, and as a sibling.

It may not seem that way, but that is what has happened, and that is why he's having such a problem.



Good luck!

Answer 3

First of all , a five year old doesn't need a $5000 birthday gift of any kind. I agree with your brother, there is too much placed on monetary things in this country and he is right in trying to instill in his daughter this fact. Secondly, no performer is worth $5000 especially one who will be here today and gone tomorrow as so many are. You were wrong in going against your brothers wishes and doing this. There are many other ways you could have celebrated your niece's special day and possibly taught her a beautiful lesson on giving to others instead of the lesson of excess.

Answer 4

1.she's only five. spending 5000 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend for a child's birthday present.

2.Hanna Montana saving the music scene, dude how old are you, that sounds kind of creepy and mostly because it's untrue, and I have never heard a grown man talk that way before about a fifteen year old girl.

3. Your brother is right, he's trying to set values for his children and you're just tearing them down by persistently buying them things when he told you not to do so. Who cares if she can recognize the trends around her that doesn't mean that she should participate in them, not all trends are good.

4. since when did turning five become a landmark in someones life?

Answer 5

Getting her the tickets is cool... but the limo at 5 is a little over the top, maybe a t-shirt and the tixx would have been a little better. I think that the reason why you brother is mad at you has to do with the fact that he may think that this type of behavior may run off on his daughter and that she may start to expect things like this all the time, in essence she will become spoiled.

Answer 6

I don't know why in this world this man is mad. Maybe he's too concerned about how much you're paying just for a little five year old's birthday. Maybe he has something against Miley Cyrus, because many of her episodes on the show are about her crushing on some guy, all these boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and things like that. Maybe he thinks she is too young to go to a concert.

Answer 7

Are you serious? She's 5 years old and you took her to a concert? I don't know whether to believe this question or not, but in case it's a real question, here's my answer.....

I agree with you that she would be left out of the popular kids' groups if she doesn't keep up with what is "in", however, I think that you should have cleared this with your brother before spending that type of money. It is HIS daughter and you need to respect the way that he wishes to raise her (even though I don't necessarily agree with him).

PS - I don't know anything about this Hannah Montana chick but please do try to recall when people thought Christina Aguileria was wholesome and I think people eve thought that same thing about trailer trash Britney Spears so I wouldn't be singing the praises of Hannah Montana quite yet.

Answer 8

Holy macaroni! $5,000 for a 5 year old's birthday? What will you do when the kids turns 18?
I agree with your brother. The kid could have had an exceptionally wonderful birthday for a tiny fraction of what was spent on this occasion, plus had plenty leftover to deposit in her college fund.
In addition to the extreme extravagance, by buying those highly overpriced tickets, which were probably bought at scalped prices, you only encourage others to hog up tickets and continue scalping, which, last time I looked was illegal!
The girl is your brother's responsibility. He is free to raise her in any manner he so chooses. If that includes instilling in her a sense of thinking for herself, then this is something you should respect. You were out of bounds on this one.

Answer 9

If you want to waste money on this rather than using it on a college fund, buy the tickets for your own kids if you have any. They are HIS children and you have to respect HIS wishes. Even if you disagree, you must support your brothers wishes unless it is harmful to the childrens. By th way $5000 could significantly fund the neice's college fund with compound interest. At least half of the cost over 12 years.

Answer 10

$5,000 for a 5-year-old's birthday gift?!
I can appreciate your generosity and certainly have an appreciation for the arts, but I can't honestly say spending $5,000 for a 5-year-old to see Hannah Montana is exactly a "normal" gift for a niece that age. Maybe it's just because I'm clearly not in your income bracket.
Maybe your brother is upset more so because he is unable to spend that amount of money on his own daughter. That's just my opinion but if my brother spent that amount of money on my 5-year-old and I knew I couldn't, I'd be upset too.

Answer 11

Because you spent $5,000 on a birthday outing for a 5 year old. That doesn't sound ridiculous? There is no problem going out and having a little fun. But don't you think you made him feel like crap because you bought HIS daughter a better birthday present? The big gifts should come from the parents. I think you over-stepped your bounds.