Who is living life the right way?

[flowergirl24]

Sister A and Sister B met up over the Christmas period. Their lives have gone in different directions and they are both late 30s. They both have 3 DC.

Sister A works 60 hours a week in a stressful job. She manages to take the children swimming at the weekends but they don’t do activities after school during the week. She has invested money in rental houses, and is concentrating on being able to have a better quality of life in the future.

Sister B works 8-10 hours a week. She has ponies and the children enjoy riding after school. She is not focused on a career at all, but does a lot of driving the children to after school activities. Sister B has expensive cars and is living for today, with no concern for the future.

Who is doing life right?

@nationalsausagefund why? Genuinely interested.

Whenever I see this on MN I get ready with my popcorn for a good old fight 😂

Agree. Despite attempt to be objective there appears to be snark aimed at sister B for her ponies and lack of ambition and planning.

There's no right or wrong, everyone has a different set of priorities. Personally, I cant be fucked looking after ponies and am naturally a sister A type, so that appeals to me more but I'm not saying that's 'right'.

Ha ha what a funny way of looking at it - parents that potter round the house and watch TV with them?! 😂 Yes, terrible parents working to better their living conditions / providing them with extracurricular experiences… I actually agree that children don’t need extravagance, what they want is attention and love from their parents - it sounds as though both sisters are trying their absolute best, possibly even too hard really on both sides, and could loosen up a little. The children aren’t crying out for parents lolloping round the house watching more Tv though.

with respect, as much as I agree that what the sisters do is nobody's business, I can't think of anything worst than "pottering around the house". It's mindlessly boring to me.

Fine for kids to do that in their bedroom after diner when parents have a bit of time in the evening, but no way is it something I would encourage from 3pm straight after school. Poor kids are missing out on so much!

I’m more like sister A in the fact that I work full time with 3 kids. Wouldn’t be a landlord though.

So I’d say sister A just because I’d never want to be in sister B’s position of relying on a man financially.

Are they both happy? Then they’re both doing it right.

Why? You either own a property or rent a property. ( Through a private landlord or council or housing trust )
I don't get why on mumsnet being a landlord is such a sin.

As sister B seems to have an upper crust set up already while working smaller part time hours I would say Sister B has the 'better deal' right now. I don't know about 'the right way' but Sister B has more balance and time for kids which is important. Sorry if you are Sister A in this post.

She right though- spending ordinary everyday time with your children is hugely valuable- actually being around and present rather than always working.

I'm not inviting a discussion of the view of being a landlord. I was commenting how you are - and it's definitely not because you're just interested...it's because you have a particularly view that is not consistent with someone else - so as I said it will result in a fight...aways funny to watch. Hardly anyone ever changes their mind on here. Great entertainment however.

Are they both happy? If so, the they’re both doing life right.
This is one of those things that is entirely subjective.

This is all a bit childish. Leave people to live their own lives for better or for worse.

Love this 🙏

But as other pp have said before: what kind of pointless question is this? We do what we can with what we're given.

@MrsTerryPratchett I like the sound of Applejack, my kind of pony. I have a DS so my knowledge of The Ponies is meagre.

If sister A is doing all these horrendous hours to buy properties to rent out she will end up the richest corpse in the graveyard. Not much point to that.

Why does Sister A have to work so many hours? What's the back story?

Is Sister A a lawyer? She sounds like one.

There is no right and wrong. Modelling a strong work ethic is a good thing.

However they both opted for 3 kids, which is a lot by today's standards. They both seem to be doing their best and what is right for them. Both quite privileged.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

What's Sister C up to? 🤣

For me neither is right (or necessarily wrong) but a balance between living in the now and planning for the future is ideal.

Sister A needs to work out if sacrificing the now for the future is worth it and maybe easing off a little might be better

Sister B - what is she going to do when her kids move in and grow up what is her future going to be

there is a balance and neither have it for me

I was more of an A than a B, through necessity rather than choice (and definitely nowhere near as well-off!), but neither sound exactly balanced. If you added them both up and divided by two you'd get two well-balanced, hard-working, attentive parents.

I'll eat my hat if the OP isn't either A or a friend of A.

Both, as each is living the way they chose. Both sound like they are having a pretty high standard of living comparibly to the majority of the worlds population. Both should be happy and if not make changes to suit. Neither are living the right or wrong way as it is an individual choice or circumstance. There are a billion ways to live a life, I would say the wrong way is to get into crime or be a serial killer or some other horrible affairs. But if you are generally a good person and try hard then there is no right or wrong way to live your life.

Sister C is having an affair with the postman and hasn't the time to be involved with the drama of Sister A or B!! 😂

I'd just advise sister with ponies, to have a pension and her own savings/investments. Other than that, each to their on.

Life is not a competition.