I Need It!

What are the differences between needs and wants? I know many adults who think they are one and the same and am sure I fall victim to that trap myself far too often. Bard and I try really hard to constantly evaluate the material items we have and our desires to buy more. We have a pretty strict rule of replacement-if we buy an item of clothing, then we have to get rid of an item of clothing. The same goes for books, shoes, and just general junk that we all seem to accumulate. We don't value brand names for clothes (is Old Navy a brand name?!) and have very few of them. Honestly, I just don't see the point and I think once you go down that road, it's hard not to start placing a lot of importance on things that really aren't that important. I'm not saying we're Amish, or against owning nice things. We just bought a new tv (so we got rid of our old one) - for the first time in 13 years! We like it : ) Oh, and I should clarify, I don't think it's wrong to buy expensive things, sometimes a good brand is the only way to get good quality. But sometimes not. We don't think there is anything wrong with stuff-hence the new tv-it's just easy to slide down the slippery slope of constantly needing to get new stuff. That's also why we only have one car. We thought about it and felt that we really didn't need two cars. Bard takes the bus to work every day. It does have it's challenging moments, but it's worth it.

So, how do you teach your child not to become obsessed with stuff? Especially because everyone else seems to be teaching her the opposite! We've made it a point not to buy Evelyn a lot of things either. She doesn't get treats every time we go to the store. In fact, I'm not sure that she has ever gotten a treat at the store! We cycle through her toys, so there are not a ton out everywhere. When she is older, she'll have an allowance and have to buy a lot of her own things, just like I did! I loved it ; ) But I know there is more than that to teaching her that she is not the center of the universe, that she doesn't need a cell phone at the age of 5, that other stores make clothes besides Abercrombie and Fitch (sp?) I really want her to value giving, sharing what she has with others, understanding how blessed she is and that those blessings come from God. It's really important to me that she grows up understanding this concept.

That's why the twos are going to be very hard for me! Developmentally two year olds are ego centric. It's just where they're at : ) She is learning her own independence, that she can make choices, that she is an individual with her own, yes, needs and wants. These are all great things and should be encouraged. Unfortunately they can be used for both good and evil! Evelyn has recently started telling us all the things she needs, "I need to go bye bye." "I need to get babydoll." "I need to eat snack." "I need music." It's not too surprising, we tell her what she needs to do all the time, so she is just repeating it, and taking it up a notch. We are trying to have conversations with her, "Evelyn, you say, 'Mama, may I have snack please'" She knows how to do this as well, but sometimes just looks at us like we're crazy-I guess that starts young! But the realization of how easy kids turn into cute, but demanding little tyrants came the other day when Evelyn was playing with her rocking horse. Bard and I weren't in the room but we heard our little pipsqueak loud and clear, "Bard, Bard, Bard! I need to get on my horse!"

Yeah, pray for us, our child is the next Napoleon, and I don't mean Dynamite!