Never let your kids watch Ryan’s toy review on you tube. You’d think it would be a safe show,

until your three year old tells you

“I want to buy all these”

Oh, right.

Kids want to have everything they see.

Like new clothes,

New houses,

New toys.

Sometimes I wish they could just be happy

with what they have,

and then I realize that our society

has become a three year old in many ways.

Conspicuous consumption,

More food, more stuff, more money spent.

Always looking for something bigger or better.

No one is content to stay in one place.

I wonder how to turn back the clock,

to a time when people made do with what they had, actually recycled,

not because it was cool

but because it was expected

or just plain made sense.

And I wonder how to simplify my life

in a way that I’d be happy

for my children to emulate.

I’m going to sleep on it tonight,

and maybe the answers will come to me.