Several of my recent posts have been about what we've gotten for Fiori: stuffed animals, walker, stroller, baby registry gifts... While I'm totally into getting her these kinds of things and I actually love shopping for her (even though I don't like shopping for myself), I have been thinking more and more about the consumerism we have in America. We seem to be a country focused on buying and having "stuff".
We have been totally enabled by cheap Chinese imports, rock bottom electronics pricing, internet super sales, Walmart and any number of other outlets for discount products. And many of these products are in the ever-growing baby/kids category. According to this article, "the average American child gets 70 new toys a year". Seventy new toys. A year.
I am now starting to think about how to pass on values to our daughter and how to teach her that what isn't most important is the items you accumulate. This is a hard one as while I grew up fairly poor, as I've gotten older and more well-off I've done my fair share of accumulating and feel a bit hypocritical in trying to make this point; but I really feel it is very important. The question is what can you do about it?
Drastic ideas I have which are not very realistic:
1. Move out of America, especially urban America.
2. No more television until she is at least a teenager.
3. Boarding school in a third world country (does Ethiopia have boarding schools? Doubt it.)
4. No interaction with American kids i.e. no leaving the house. Ever.
5. Get rid of all our stuff to set a good example.
Not so drastic ideas that we will try to practice:
1. Reuse, recycle, repurpose
2. Focus on giving. For new toys coming in, donations go out.
3. International travel and I'm not talking to fancy resorts in exotic locales.
4. No television while young and then sparingly while older with a focus on learning programs. Has anyone invented a software hack for Tivo to automatically skip the commercials?
5. Public schools (not sure on this one and not even sure it would help since even non-rich kids seemed to be consumed by getting stuff).
Anyone else got any good ideas?
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Consumerism and "stuff"
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5 comments:
I'm not sure you want to get me started on this one... But I couldn't resit commenting. But first of all I think the ideas that you have had are great! Some of the 'extreme' ones are not that bad... I'm the first to honestly say: Life is SO MUCH BETTER without a TV. Really, it is. Honestly! After about a month, you don't miss it... and you find so many other things to do that are so much more fun and interactive. (I'm thinking now however that I do not live with a sports fan... that is probably your biggest issue in the whole "get rid of the TV thing... am I right?)
The other thing is : Look at some of the ideas in that "Montessori from the start" It talks about having one (maybe two) low shelves in you child room with 10 toys/activities out TOPS. Then these toys can be rotated with others now and then. It works! And your child is not overwhelmed with loads of plastic crap. Anyway, good luck. I think it is very admirable that you are pondering these things now. (extremely good use of this unwanted down time!)
I'd also add - start her at a young age with earning money and paying for things she wants. Growing up we had to pay for the stuff we wanted out of our own money. I'm a little more lax with it but my kids are the same way. My 8 year old wants a new DS game - he has to save. The same for when he bought the DS.
I agree, getting rid of a TV is a great idea. It will create so much more time for family and marriage. You would be surprised what a huge difference it makes. I myself am a fan of Waldorf schools and ideas, very similar to what your writing about.
My brother swears by making toys at home...he and Dagmar being German, they want to stay away from plastic and unnecessarily expensive toys for babies - home-made stuff is fun to make, generally more safe, and mostly pretty simple (think plastic bottle with pennies inside) which can encourage the baby's imagination and creativity. I found a couple of websites for home-made toys:
http://www.robynsnest.com/homemade.htm#Ziplock (I like the edible playdough)
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/02/02apr15f.cfm
My brother swears by making toys at home...he and Dagmar being German, they want to stay away from plastic and unnecessarily expensive toys for babies - home-made stuff is fun to make, generally more safe, and mostly pretty simple (think plastic bottle with pennies inside) which can encourage the baby's imagination and creativity. I found a couple of websites for home-made toys:
http://www.robynsnest.com/homemade.htm#Ziplock (I like the edible playdough)
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/02/02apr15f.cfm
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