Manchester United star, Wayne Rooney’s son, Kai, turned six earlier this week. And while most six-year-olds would have been over the moon with a miniature Porsche from Toys’R’Us, the celeb kid was gifted a personal golf course, worth about £7,000. While we’re still coming to terms with the news, we cast our minds back to the most elaborate gifts ‘the rich and the famous’ have given their offspring. From diamond-encrusted rattles to Louis Vuitton bags, the extravagant list is endless.
Suri Cruise, the daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, who is often spotted in the latest designs from Gucci and Prada was given a tree house for her birthday, not too long ago. While many kids have their own cute little tree houses in America, Suri’s was fitted with running water, electricity and shag carpeting. And how much was spent on building it? A cool $100,000 or roughly Rs 65 lakh. “It may sound funny, but Suri now has her dream home,” a family friend was quoted as saying in a prominent US magazine. “She hosts tea parties there on fine china and watches TV with friends,” she added.
Attempting to make Blue Ivy Carter’s bath time a fun experience, her parents, Beyonce and Jay Z ditched the boringly common rubber duckies for a Swarovski crystal-encrusted bathtub. After all, Swarovski’s are a girl’s best friend, no matter how old she is. Apart from the bath tub, which was actually a gift from Kelly Rowland, the tiny tot has a high chair also studded with Swarovski crystals that cost her parents $15,000. The most unusual of all however, is what Sandra Bullock gave her son when he turned one — an Andy Warhol painting that set her back by $14,000, because that’s just the toy a toddler is looking for!
“While lavishing gifts on kids is a symbol of parents’ love, it is no substitute for time. Also, it doesn’t teach them about hard work. If parents are being extravagant, they should also teach their children about the value of money and that they can’t expect everything to come easy, once they grow up,” explains Swarnalatha Iyer, a city-based psychologist and former psychology professor.
Closer home, Shilpa and Raj Kundra too pulled out all the stops for their son’s birthday, when they got him a Lamborghini at two-and-half-years. “While they only want the best for their babies, teaching them about humility and simplicity is what will make them good human beings,” concludes Iyer.
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