I think your friend is right when he thinks that a child does not care about the bed he/she sleeps in or many other things BUT that only holds truth depending on the age of the child. Once a child reaches the age where he is able to see the difference between his bed and his friend's bed, he will start questioning his circumstances. Then it is up to us as the parents to explain that we are able to provide for them in a certain way depending on what we have and are capable of giving them. But it is also always in our capabilities to put aside a small sum of money to surprise them with something that they really like if we are able to do it. Children should never be spoiled just because we feel guilty because we cannot give them everything that we would like to give them. They should learn from an early age that they should also bring a little bit of "doing" to "receive" into the whole family equation.