To me, success IS happiness. And I think what high-ability gives you is lots of choices. What choices you make depend on so many factors that it is impossible to set someone up for "success" if your idea of success is not their idea of success. And, just because we raise our kids in the shadow of our own choices does not mean that our kids will have the same idea of success that we do. Or, even if they do, that their path to success is the path that we would want to lead them to. I think the best you can do to "give our kids a leg up as they pursue their passions and provide for a lifestyle they want" is to provide them with love, confidence, a good work ethic, and exposure to the options out there for them.
I, like others seem to, have a problem with equating success with work and financial success. I could have chosen (and still can) any career, but my success is in raising my children and volunteering at their schools. My husband's success if working as a more rural physician so he can, in part, spend a lot of time with family. High falutin' careers, no. But a hugely successful life, yes.
Last edited by mnmom23; 08/15/11 05:39 PM. Reason: To add "love"
