When I was a younger, I didn’t get everything I wanted (although my brothers would tend to disagree). Thank God my parents stood their ground with me. I wore hand-me-down clothes from cousins and brothers and played in the mud, sand and dirt. We bounced super balls down the street in the rain and watched them roll along the curb, following the stream of water into the sewer. We made up dance routines to songs on the radio and would swing on our swing sets. We walked or rode our bikes to the park or the community pool and played hide-n-seek with the neighborhood kids. When it was dinner-time, our parents would yell for us and we would go home. Being a child was simple.

Over the years, I’ve watched people spoil their children with material things. Those children have grown up to become very difficult and rebellious. Now that I am a parent, I’ve often thought about how I will raise my daughter. Things are different now, there is so much out there to tantalize a young person. The market is just over-saturated with toys and clothes it seems.

I went to the store the other day and wanted to load up my cart with toys for Hailey. It took me about 45 minutes of pacing around the store to finally decide to put every single thing back. I felt sick and ashamed of myself. This is not how I want to raise her. If I start this now, when she’s only 7 months old, how will it be when she’s old enough to ask for something? I need to be strong and learn not to give in. I realized after putting all of those toys back on the shelf exactly how difficult this is going to be.

I know that part of the reason I want to buy her things is because I didn’t have everything I had ever wanted as a little girl. I believe that was a great lesson for me though. I suppose we have quite a few years ahead of us where our kids won’t necessarily like us because we won’t give in to every little whim. I guess my goal for Hailey is, when she is my age; I want her to come to me and thank me for not handing her everything. I want her to have the same values that I did and be appreciative. To this day, I think the way I was raised has helped me to be an independent person and not rely on others for things. I’d like to see my daughter grow up like that.