Marketing life...........................

On my morning run today I was listening to a recording of Dr Oz and his guest, Susan Linn. The show was about marketing to children and talked about how marketing is being targeted to younger and younger children and the inherent dangers of this. Did you know that in the United States nineteen percent of children under the age of one have a television in their bedrooms? The reason...because parents actually believe the notion that they are providing early education to their children by placing them in front of the television. Maybe they are, maybe not. I am not picking sides on that topic. Something else Ms. Linn said got me thinking...

We all have either experienced or heard of children who watch commercials and before the last bar of the catchy jingle is over they are expressing a desire to have the product. How can we as parents fight this million dollar marketing? By being good roll models. It seems that how into labels and name brands you are sets the stage for how into these things your children will be. Your values become your children's values. Not really news is it? But do you really pay attention to this on a day to day basis?

When you are coveting that new electronic device because it will make your life easier all your four year old notes is "mommy/daddy wants it." Is my youngest's love of shoes an inherited gene (that the other two kids didn't get) or did it develop as a direct result of my obsession with shoes? If it is due to the second reason her future spouse might just have a right to hate me, especially if her motto becomes, "Will work for shoes, nothing else." Hopefully, in addition to teaching her to love shoes, I have also taught her the concept of working for security, and BUDGETING for shoes. I enjoy high quality clothing as much as the next guy/gal, but hope I have given my children a positive message regarding this topic by refusing to purchase items at full price as well as making thoughtful purchases rather than impulse shop. While I can appreciate the workmanship that goes into a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, I don't obsess over owning a pair. Chinese Laundry (the brand of the plaid shoes) makes me truly happy and content. I probably shouldn't mention the plain truth that I can purchase several years worth of CL brand shoes for the price of one pair of JC shoes, or one might think I am into the quantity game. Just stating the facts folks. Remember what a great bargain shopper I am. The day Jimmy offers me a pair of his shoes 80% off might just be the day I have to snap them up, but I am totally getting off topic.

Taking a slight turn off subject something else I heard the other day is that one can't be truly happy until they are as happy for another's successes as they are for there own. This falls under the premise that "we are all one." It is easy for us to be happy when good comes into our world. It is exciting when it happens to our friends and those we like and/or admire. How easy is it for us to be joyful when our perceived enemy strikes it fortunate? I will admit to feeling perceived pleasure when someone that had hurt me, "got exactly what they deserved," and I am not talking a positive something. While I might have been justified in my feelings, what benefit did it serve me to nurture my perceived hurt through their apparent misfortune? Surely, it did not make me the better person. It did not serve to teach the kind of "Do unto other's lesson," that I desire to teach my children. What then is the point of this behavior?

I guess what I am trying to say is just be aware of what your actions are and what they are "saying" to others, especially the others that are our responsibility (our children). Call it a silly twist of fate, but we all know that the things we don't want our children to learn from us are also the things that they pick up the quickest. Some of the greatest lessons my children have learned from me stem from the way I handled my mistakes. For every negative we have an opportunity to create a positive. What can you turn around in your life today?