[HN Gopher] The best $4 ever spent
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The best $4 ever spent
        
       Author : pmzy
       Score  : 276 points
       Date   : 2024-09-27 14:46 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (papanotes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (papanotes.com)
        
       | dp-hackernews wrote:
       | Priceless! <3
        
         | pmzy wrote:
         | indeed! :D
        
       | LUmBULtERA wrote:
       | I took a bus home with my toddler one day when waiting for the
       | planned ride was going to take a longer time than I was
       | originally expecting. I didn't think much of it, but for him the
       | bus ride was WAY more interesting than the zoo we had just
       | visited!
        
         | mzs wrote:
         | experienced the same with train to museum
        
         | pmzy wrote:
         | thank you so much for sharing your story :)
        
       | grecy wrote:
       | For their 3rd Birthday the daughter of a friend just wanted to
       | ride the bus. So all our friends and their kids got on the right
       | bus at the right time and place so we were all on the bus by the
       | time the Birthday girl got on. We had a riot of a time going
       | around our little town, and the bus driver and other passengers
       | all sang Happy Birthday and "the wheels on the bus"
       | 
       | Brilliant idea for a memorable 3rd Birthday!
        
       | mmikeff wrote:
       | Spending time with kids > giving stuff to kids.
        
         | nvalis wrote:
         | I would say this applies to more than just kids, this is the
         | case for almost everyone.
        
       | docdeek wrote:
       | When I was a kid in suburban Australia my parents would organize
       | a semi-annual 'bus-train-ferry' trip. It was a school holiday
       | tradition where - in hindsight - we'd do the sort of daily
       | commute that thousands of working adults would do every
       | morning...except for a kid the magic of a bus to a train station,
       | a train into the city, and then a ferry across the river was just
       | great fun. A day ticket for a family back in the 1980s? Probably
       | next to nothing, but a priceless memory.
        
       | dinvlad wrote:
       | So wholesome :-)
        
       | jamiehoward wrote:
       | Love this!
        
       | ajdude wrote:
       | When I was growing up, it was a Christmas tradition for my family
       | to take the local train system (SEPTA) from Delaware to Philly to
       | visit the exhibits at the old Gallery mall. It was a rough,
       | dirty, and crowded ride, and it felt like forever as it stopped
       | at every station. My grandparents would take my mother when she
       | was growing up.
       | 
       | Decades later it still left a positive impact on me.
        
       | fattybob wrote:
       | Absolutely wonderful tale - I laughed out loud at that final
       | touch!
        
       | stevekemp wrote:
       | I went to the transport office and got a map of all the local
       | tram routes - we hung it on the wall, and my child and I rode
       | every tram from one end to the other.
       | 
       | Took a few weeks to ride all the trams in Helsinki, and it got a
       | bit boring towards the end as several tram routes terminated in
       | the same location. But every tram we'd get on in the middle, ride
       | to one end of the line and go out for a walk, then ride to the
       | other end.
       | 
       | Recently I suggested we do it again, as the trams have been
       | renumbered a little, and there are two new lines available but
       | he's lost interest. Shame, but doing the original routes was a
       | lot of fun and I still have the route map on my wall along with
       | the star-stickers we placed on it to mark the route numbers we'd
       | completed!
        
         | culebron21 wrote:
         | Great that you posted this. I told my story of riding metro
         | with my son, but only after this one un-stuck my brain to think
         | of other locations in my city we could ride to, for almost
         | nothing.
         | 
         | Funnily, when I was in Helsinki, I did ride couple of trams to
         | the terminus. But in my brain, this was stored in another
         | department, "urban research going to the fringe". Not "going
         | out with the kid".
        
       | cpfohl wrote:
       | For my middle child's 1st Birthday we realized we could give him
       | everything he ever wanted for about $8. He opened a few boxes of
       | bandaids, tissue boxes, and a roll of toilet paper. Played for
       | hours.
        
       | aantix wrote:
       | We took our kids to Disney World once.
       | 
       | When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they
       | responded..
       | 
       | The hot tub.
       | 
       | At the hotel.
       | 
       | My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them,
       | fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions.
       | 
       | Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas
       | to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it
       | on a YouTube video. They asked to go. So we obliged. I had never
       | been to Arkansas. It's beautiful.
       | 
       | We stayed at a resort, Diamonds Old West Cabins, with a huge
       | playground outside the cabins, archery, and a bubble party every
       | evening at 6 pm.
       | 
       | They still talk about that trip.
        
         | DowagerDave wrote:
         | For our Disney(land) trip, we stayed at a motel ~ 1.5 miles
         | from the park (Canadian walking distance) and the thing my kids
         | LOVED was we walked by a 7-11 every day and I would buy them a
         | slurpee on the morning walk to the gates. Probably $20 for the
         | week (and likely not much worse for you than a typical vacation
         | breakfast).
         | 
         | The "make your own waffle" station at the included breakfast
         | was also a huge hit. The park and rides were satisfactory.
        
           | dmd wrote:
           | I've taken my older daughter to Disney (World) twice now (at
           | ages 7 and 9). Her absolute favorite part: riding the
           | Skyliner to EPCOT. On our second trip we went an hour out of
           | our way to go ride it because we weren't at a served hotel
           | that time.
           | 
           | When pressed for a favorite activity _within_ the park, it
           | was  "that time we ran all the way from Japan to Soarin',
           | dodging people".
        
             | monocularvision wrote:
             | It's so funny you mention this.
             | 
             | My family are pretty regular Disneyland goers. Last year we
             | finally made it to Disney World for the first time.
             | 
             | My four "kids" were between the ages of 12-23.
             | 
             | And I think their favorite part of the trip was the
             | Skyliner.
        
           | brailsafe wrote:
           | Must be from Winnipeg or something
        
         | chazeon wrote:
         | Even as an adult I enjoy time when some other person I am
         | spending time with is fully engaged and fully present, I'd call
         | it quality time, but it's just so rare...
        
         | atoav wrote:
         | My little brother once got a bicycle for christmas. He played
         | the whole evening with the cardboard box it was in.
        
           | torbengee wrote:
           | Consider the possibility that your brother might be a cat ...
        
             | prmoustache wrote:
             | When we were kids, at some point we lived in a house whose
             | garden was on top of a hill. So we would sometimes just
             | look for whatever cardboard box is available and roll down
             | the hill inside it.
             | 
             | I stopped offering stuff to my kids for birthdays a long
             | time ago, they got enough from uncles and aunts. I prefer
             | offering "events" like going some place special. Memories
             | are more important than plastic stuff.
        
             | neura wrote:
             | A pretty cool one, at that!
        
         | drcongo wrote:
         | First time I took my eldest to London Zoo, we asked her what
         | her favourite part was, she said "the puddle".
        
         | justusthane wrote:
         | A few months ago, we took our year-and-a-half-old daughter to
         | Belgium and Spain for two weeks. Her favorite part of the whole
         | trip was seeing horses, sheep, and geese (all of which, believe
         | it or not, we have here at home in Canada).
        
           | quercusa wrote:
           | When I was about seven, my sister and I were taken on a
           | special trip to see the Giant Pandas at the National Zoo in
           | Washington, DC. The pandas were fine, but we were
           | _fascinated_ by the chipmunks running around everywhere.
        
           | brailsafe wrote:
           | As a grown ass man, I make a point of visiting zoos in
           | foreign cities if I'm in a city that has one. My lady is
           | never as enthusiastic, but then quickly forgets about her
           | lack of enthusiasm with the first glance of a meerkat
        
         | gk1 wrote:
         | > My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them,
         | fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions.
         | 
         | Exactly. The author didn't mention it but it's not just the bus
         | ride, it's how they engaged with their daughter during that
         | ride.
         | 
         | Remember the mania over the total eclipse in April in the US? I
         | took my daughter on 250-mile roadtrip to see it. The drive took
         | a few hours there, then 9 (!!) hours back because of horrendous
         | traffic. It could've been a tantrum-filled disaster, but I
         | committed to staying upbeat and fully engaged the entire time,
         | and as a result it was a fun and memorable trip we still talk
         | about today.
         | 
         | Oh and we didn't even get to see the eclipse ... 95% cloud
         | coverage.
         | 
         | So yeah step 1 is creating time + space for things like this --
         | like taking a long bus ride -- but a crucial step 2 is leaning
         | into it with presence and attention to your child.
        
         | tomkaos wrote:
         | I have travel entire Vietnam with people with kids. After
         | seeing all the pagoda, park, cave, amusement park.. the best
         | part of the travel for the kid was the pool at one hotel.
        
         | 98codes wrote:
         | I had a similar experience -- their (age 2 & 5) favorite thing?
         | Was it the rides, meeting all the characters? No. The parking
         | lot tram.
        
           | desertrider12 wrote:
           | Funny, this was also my favorite ride when I was 4!
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | As a kid I remember - swimming pools and any museum that had
         | buttons you could press to make the displays do something.
         | 
         | also parents have gotten rid of BB guns and fireworks!
        
         | vharuck wrote:
         | My wife remembers going to Disney World with her grandparents
         | when she was 6 or so. Her fondest memories were the hotel pool
         | and the lizards that lounged around it. Those poor
         | grandparents. Imagine spending a lot of money and then dealing
         | with a tantrum when you say "Let's go to Disney World."
        
         | __s wrote:
         | yep, my parents took my sister & I to Florida. My mother went
         | with my sister to Disney World. I didn't go, I stayed back at
         | the place with my father & we played marbles. I got to see a
         | turtle run down a hill. Great time. Thankfully they knew
         | amusement parks weren't of interest to me already from when
         | we'd gone to Universal Studios & I mostly remember sitting on a
         | bench
        
         | ambientenv wrote:
         | This. "My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with
         | them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking
         | questions."
         | 
         | Things a screen and all the gadgets and fancy engineering in
         | the world can never replace.
        
       | theginger wrote:
       | My son loves to ride a bus too, I'm not a fan, and near me buses
       | are single deck, quite old and unpleasant and really quite
       | expensive.
       | 
       | I discovered they city park and ride scheme was the perfect
       | solution. It's cheaper than parking in the city centre and
       | unlimited bus rides to and from the centre on nice new double
       | decker buses.
        
       | xwowsersx wrote:
       | This really hits home. Like everyone, I tend to fall into
       | routines and get comfortable with the familiar. But having kids
       | constantly pushes you out of that comfort zone because they're
       | excited by things that might seem small or inconvenient to you.
       | Embracing their enthusiasm is not only good for them but for you
       | too. It brings some variety and breaks the routine. I always have
       | to resist the urge to tell my kids, "No, we're not doing that
       | because..." Just going with the flow and joining in their little
       | adventures is incredibly rewarding. It's not just about making
       | them happy--you gain just as much. Their joy is just the bonus.
        
       | theflyinghorse wrote:
       | Is this not an obvious "no-shit-sherlock" thing to anyone who
       | ever hung out with a kid?
        
         | jtbayly wrote:
         | It's an excellent _reminder_ to anyone who ever hung out with a
         | kid...
         | 
         | Because it's easy to forget. :)
        
         | throwanem wrote:
         | I don't think there is anyone on Earth not able to work it out,
         | but I know for an ironclad fact there's those who can't be
         | bothered.
        
       | abeppu wrote:
       | Certainly it's true that kids can get a lot of joy out of
       | something that to an adult seems really small or boring. But the
       | flip side is kids can get totally emotionally distraught or
       | enraged over tiny things.
       | 
       | Are these two sides of the same coin, and come from having just a
       | smaller world, where small things can feel very big to a
       | developing brain? Or as an adult with a fully-formed brain and
       | access to the larger world, can we separate them and find that
       | kind of unrestrained joy in the small stuff without also being
       | swept away by small disappointments?
        
         | j7ake wrote:
         | Yes. Basically kids can have strong emotional reactions to
         | seemingly small things.
        
           | MonkeyClub wrote:
           | They naturally take all the space they can get, learning
           | their limits. Issue is, they don't hear "no" often enough
           | early on, to know that there are limits.
        
         | LUmBULtERA wrote:
         | >But the flip side is kids can get totally emotionally
         | distraught or enraged over tiny things.
         | 
         | Oof isn't this the truth. The tiniest things will drive my son
         | into full meltdowns right now.
        
         | Qworg wrote:
         | I think many adults also get distraught or enraged by tiny
         | things - it is an emotional regulation problem, not an age
         | problem (but adults can and should be better than children).
        
           | alt187 wrote:
           | Curiously enough, not a lot of those adults still find joy in
           | the tiny things.
        
         | Jeremy1026 wrote:
         | An analogy I've heard in the past is that emotions are like a
         | button fixed in a box with a ball in it. When you're younger
         | the box is smaller so the ball hits the buttons more often as
         | there is less free space. As you grow, your box grows too, so
         | your ball has more space in the box and more empty space on the
         | walls for the ball the bounce off of, making the buttons less
         | likely to be pushed.
        
       | RobinL wrote:
       | Yesterday the rain was torrential when I picked up my 5yo from
       | school with my 2yo. I brought wellies and we walked up and down
       | the streams of water running down the hill. The kids were more
       | excited than anything we've paid for recently.
        
       | j7ake wrote:
       | The issue is you don't know which of the 0-5 dollar products to
       | spend that will make them excited.
       | 
       | A strategy is therefore to buy lots of cheap stuff and
       | experiences, and let the kids have the option to choose. Then
       | throw away the stuff they don't care for.
       | 
       | If you buy expensive things, you tend to try to force that thing
       | onto the kid, which can be counter productive.
        
         | millzlane wrote:
         | Pen and paper are my go-to. Throw in a "wow that's beautiful!"
         | And they will draw all day.
        
         | janalsncm wrote:
         | In this case she asked to take the bus. I suppose that could've
         | gone south, though. I think kids are generally delighted by
         | novelty.
        
       | brink wrote:
       | I've been spending my entire adult life trying to rediscover this
       | spiritual joy of being a child. I remember it so fondly. My
       | daughter is about to turn 2 and I'm secretly hoping that she can
       | help me find at least a little of it.
        
         | foobarian wrote:
         | A while ago I was at our patio table with my 4 year old, we
         | were building a house/castle thing out of scrap cardboard. At
         | one point while painting it she pauses and looks over at the
         | garden/woods. I asked her what she saw, she smiled at me and
         | said, "I'm just... happy." I'll never forget it :-)
        
           | waciki wrote:
           | this is beautiful, thanks for sharing.
        
       | throw0101d wrote:
       | There is no such thing as "quality time" together, there is only
       | time together.
       | 
       | Bigs things happen in the little moments, and you have to have
       | those little moments for them to happen.
        
         | criddell wrote:
         | I don't know...
         | 
         | I've been to restaurants where two adults and two kids are
         | sitting at a table. The adults looking at their phones and the
         | kids watching something on tablets makes for poor chances of an
         | interesting little moment to happen.
        
           | throw0101d wrote:
           | When I take the subway into work, I am in the physical
           | presence of other people, but am I really _with_ them?
        
             | imp0cat wrote:
             | Depends. Do you _smell_ them?
        
       | kaustubhvp wrote:
       | This kind of stuff I like reading on HN!
        
       | kylehotchkiss wrote:
       | This was very sweet :') I wish my dad would have said yes to the
       | train more when I was a kid. Now he's the one asking me to ride
       | one.
        
       | ada1981 wrote:
       | It's as if shes hard wired for public transport in an effort to
       | have a future planet to live on!
        
       | psadri wrote:
       | A reminder that $ != happiness
        
       | krunck wrote:
       | Do the things that will give your kids the greatest exposure to
       | different ways of being, living, and seeing. That ain't done by
       | having entrenched routines.
        
       | criddell wrote:
       | When I was five or six, my grandmother took me and my siblings on
       | a train to Toronto (maybe a two hour trip) around Christmas to
       | walk down some street (no idea which) and look at the Christmas
       | displays in shop windows. It was all magic to me.
       | 
       | I don't think we ever bought anything although she must have fed
       | us something. It's one of my favorite memories and I still love
       | trains. I'm hoping to ride Via from Toronto to Vancouver in a
       | cabin car someday soon!
        
         | canucker2016 wrote:
         | If the trip happened in the past 30 years, then your family
         | probably walked along the south side of Queen St, just west of
         | Yonge St. at the Hudson's Bay flagship store in Toronto.
         | 
         | as an example, see
         | https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/ylxwxt/hudsons_bay...
         | 
         | just search for "Toronto Hudson's Bay Christmas Display Window"
         | 
         | Before then, Eaton's dept. store in the Eaton Centre, just
         | north of the Queen St. Hudson's Bay store, may have had
         | Christmas display windows as well.
        
           | canucker2016 wrote:
           | Google Maps Street view link of the store windows that house
           | the Christmas displays leading up to Dec. 25 every year.
           | 
           | see https://maps.app.goo.gl/ho5aM9sjaPo27bYB6
        
       | lovegrenoble wrote:
       | Lovely story
        
       | stephen_cagle wrote:
       | This sort of content feels good in the immediacy but ultimately
       | lessens the quality of hn.
       | 
       | I'm not concerned about _this_ post specifically, but I feel that
       | we should be more critical of things like this making it onto hn.
       | I come to hn to mostly hear about tech, tech advances, startups,
       | etc. I don 't come here to read feel good (and admittedly, very
       | cute) stories. They have their place, but I feel that place is
       | not hn.
        
         | millzlane wrote:
         | At the risk of sounding old and cranky I'm inclined to agree
         | with you. The story made me smile no doubt. But I was not
         | expecting a public transportation story.
        
         | j2bax wrote:
         | Maybe a little bit of humanity and feel good is just what HN
         | needs! These computers and software and such are after all
         | for... humans mostly.
        
           | millzlane wrote:
           | Computer issues are easy. I could do it all day. But those
           | human problems are tough to crack.
        
           | stephen_cagle wrote:
           | Maybe so, this is a public community and the community will
           | decide on its own standards (as it should be). My opinions
           | are my own.
           | 
           | I can't exactly draw the line about what does belong on hn,
           | but a question I sometimes ask myself is "Would I be rolling
           | my eyes if I read similar content on Linkedin?" If so, I
           | assume it shouldn't be on hn.
        
             | j2bax wrote:
             | I can agree that I wouldn't want to see this type of
             | content take over HN... and I don't think it would. But a
             | little sprinkled in seems fine.
        
         | divbzero wrote:
         | I don't mind it in small doses and trust the community to vote
         | appropriately.
         | 
         | Even the _Wall Street Journal_ has lighthearted "A-hed"
         | articles, which have occupied valuable space on their front
         | page for 83 years and counting.
        
         | RandomThoughts3 wrote:
         | I think the comment about the kid liking the puddle the best at
         | the zoo is the best comment I have read on HN in the past
         | decade.
         | 
         | 90% of HN is off topic drivel, pointless ranting , overall
         | tired and unoriginal, when it's not flat out wrong. I include
         | most of my contributions in these 90%. Genuinely interesting
         | contributions are then few and far between amongst the 10%
         | which actually desserve to exist. If it's quality you seek, you
         | can close your account right now and go do something useful
         | with your time instead.
         | 
         | At least, this post is soulful and happy.
        
         | cloverich wrote:
         | IMO the near constant dismissive, negative, and / or non-
         | constructive criticism is what devalues HN. Genuine curiosity,
         | sharing of contextual and tangential experiences, and
         | constructive criticism are what makes it great. At its best its
         | only about technology because thats where many inquisitive
         | types end up.
         | 
         | In this particular case, the spark it ignited in me and others
         | was precisely that inquisitive nature - about eschewing the
         | expected value in lifes activities and instead reaching for
         | that inner genuine interest can turn many experienced upside
         | down. Maybe in reaching too far, but that was my take away from
         | it. If similar stories were reposted ad nauseum i doubt they
         | would make the front page and thus for me at least i am
         | unconcerned with its presence.
        
         | pmzy wrote:
         | OP here. I see where you're coming from and I even agree with
         | you. I seek and like tech posts on HN.
         | 
         | That being said, I enjoy reading (and writing) human stories as
         | well! Plus, it's nice to read the many stories people are
         | sharing in the comments of this post. It shows that our
         | community isn't as cold/ruthless as some may think :)
        
           | stephen_cagle wrote:
           | For sure, like I said, it isn't about this (your) post. Just
           | wanted to make a small amount of noise about keeping hn
           | aligned with the interest I associate it with.
           | 
           | Very cute story though, commend you for observing such truths
           | in your parenting.
        
         | jll29 wrote:
         | I come to HM for technology matters, but I am genuinely
         | interested to see that the many geeks here from hardware nerd
         | over full-stack developer to investor or founder are all also
         | human beings that have ordinary lives and ordinary problems.
         | 
         | It is valuable content to read on HN how fellow geeks see other
         | spheres of life.
        
       | millzlane wrote:
       | aww r/mademesmile
        
       | PaulHoule wrote:
       | Kids usually love taking transit.
        
         | 8A51C wrote:
         | My partner didn't drive until my daughter was 8yo. They bused
         | around most places, as a result, daughter and wife now refuse
         | any offer of a bus journey...
        
       | wenc wrote:
       | Forget about toys. Kids love big cardboard boxes. My nephews and
       | nieces love them.
       | 
       | I'm middle aged but I remember building so many make believe
       | things out of boxes. All I needed were markers, glue and paper.
       | My parents couldn't afford those mini cars so I built them
       | myself. Out of boxes.
       | 
       | A big box could be a car. Or a fort. Or a castle. Or a boat.
        
       | forinti wrote:
       | My conclusion is to do different stuff to make life less boring.
        
       | culebron21 wrote:
       | We live in a walkable part of city. In a park 1 block from our
       | apartment, there are "baby trains" (small electric trains, on
       | rubber wheels). They cost ~$2 for 5 minutes, plus 10 minutes of
       | your kid screaming "want more". Subway in Almaty is $0.2 (for
       | adult), unlimited time. So when my son was almost 2 y.o. and
       | walked well, I decided to take him to the real subway instead of
       | enduring that vulgarity (granted the station is just 2 blocks
       | away). He loved it a lot. Shouted "too-too" when the train was
       | departing. Wanted more and more. He couldn't speak then, so he
       | was turning my head with his hands, to make me see the
       | approaching train. Also, it was a hot sunny day of +35degC, but
       | in subway, it was 10 degrees cooler. The first time, we travelled
       | 1,5 hours strait, 2-3 stations back and forth. I sweated because
       | I had to carry a rucksack and a 6 kg of folded stroller. But that
       | was unforgettable.
        
         | imp0cat wrote:
         | I have a tip for you, if you ever visit Vienna, get a
         | 24(48,72)hr unlimited ticket and spend some time on the subway
         | (U-Bahn) with your kids, riding the various lines. The entire
         | subway system has different trains (some more like street cars,
         | some more like urban rail) and tracks run in underground
         | tunnels, shallow trenches and over open ground.
        
       | campak wrote:
       | I love this story haha
        
       | SoftTalker wrote:
       | Kind if a larger lesson in this story is that kids will be
       | interested in what they are interested in. Many of us here are
       | like me and have made a career out of programming computers or
       | related jobs. I've had three kids and not one of them is
       | interested in programming, despite my attempts at encouragement.
       | You can teach your kids a lot of things but they will also make
       | their own path in life.
        
         | bitbuilder wrote:
         | For whatever it's worth, my dad was a programmer and spent my
         | childhood doing his best to get me interested in it as well.
         | But I just couldn't have cared less. I think most of us in our
         | adolescent and teenage years just instinctivley feel like
         | whatever our parents do must be lame and boring.
         | 
         | During my softmore year at UIUC in '94, I finally relented to
         | his endless prodding to check out this www thing he was
         | rambling about, and went to a presentation by the Mosaic team
         | at a building down the street from me. Needless to say, that
         | changed everything, and I've been coding ever since.
         | 
         | But I'm pretty sure it was in my DNA and it was only a matter
         | of time before I admitted to myself that programming is
         | actually fun as hell.
         | 
         | I'm sure you're proud of the paths your kids have taken, but
         | hey, you never know. Maybe one day they'll also admit to
         | themselves that dad's hobby was actually pretty damn cool and
         | give it a go too.
        
       | herbertl wrote:
       | Tangential anecdote: When I went to a buffet as a child, I loaded
       | up on mashed potatoes, fries, onion rings, etc. I would be told
       | by family and friends that I was effectively wrong for choosing
       | those foods because seafood, meat, etc., was more expensive and
       | therefore more valuable and worth choosing.
       | 
       | I don't think that was a bad outcome necessarily, because I
       | picked foods that were super unhealthy and cater to thin dopamine
       | hits. But I do think the reasoning (value vs. health) was off as
       | it started instilling a sense of letting perceived/imagined value
       | reign over personal instincts and inclinations.
       | 
       | Reading this felt like a call to be more present, pay more
       | attention to the small things, do things for their own sake, etc.
        
       | pbreit wrote:
       | We are in progress of putting a basketball hoop at the end of our
       | dead-end street and are unfortunately concerned that there are a
       | handful of residents who probably don't want it. I swing back and
       | forth on who I think "the bad guys" are. But I know the kids will
       | love it and it will keep them off their phones.
        
       | mschuster91 wrote:
       | > "No, no don't play with the wrapping paper! Look at the truck
       | vroom vroom!" to no avail. She preferred the wrapping paper.
       | 
       | Your daughter a cat, by any chance? It's just the same with cats.
       | They don't give a shit about anything you buy them, sometimes not
       | even _food_ - if there 's packing peanuts, packing paper or
       | Amazon cardboard boxes, that is more important.
        
       | redleggedfrog wrote:
       | I still liked riding the bus, all the way through college. I live
       | in a small town now, no need to ride the bus, a bike does fine,
       | but I miss it sometimes.
        
       | EdwardCoffin wrote:
       | I think the SMBC comic _Yeep_ [1] deserves mention here.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/yeep
        
       | codingrightnow wrote:
       | I took my daughter to a Broadway Disney musical. We were almost
       | late so I picked her up and ran multiple packed city blocks with
       | her in my arms. I think that was her favorite part, including,
       | which I don't remember, running in front of a tourist taking a
       | picture of a spiderman sidewalk actor and yelling "sorry" as I
       | passed. We also went to Disney and her favorite thing was
       | actually just going on a ride she was nervous about and feeling
       | good about how brave she was.
        
       | timzaman wrote:
       | Premise of article is wrong. Kids do get excited about the same
       | things as adults; novel and intriguing things within reach. These
       | things just aren't exciting _any more_ to adults. That 's the
       | only difference. An adult that's never been on a train, but never
       | could, or was never allowed, will find it exciting too.
        
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