It sounds like they did their best, Jason, even though you don't have that much in common with them philosophically as an adult. I did not grow up poor, but I must say I never cared about clothes with labels. My attire just had to be...colorful and not what everyone else was wearing. It's funny that you mentioned your mother cutting your hair, because today, for the first time ever, I asked my son to trim my hair with a dog scizzors. Why spend money on a hairdresser when its just a five-minute straight across trim? (Many of my friends would be appalled by this, but why should I waste $40 dollars on something that anyone who can cut straight can do? ) It took him about five minutes and then I spent a minute or two leveling bits he had missed.