"Lauren gets to stay up and talk on the phone as long as she wants, why can't I?" "all my friends have their own TVs."
It takes a lot of inner strength to stand up to this kind of often relentless pressure. Yet, to allow our children to do all the things they want to do, or to give them all the things they want, to make them "happy," is not always in their best interest.
Possessions are power in our society. A child who feels lost or powerless can easily turn to objects, thinking that they will make him feel better. The development of a child's inner life, his sense of himself and his own unique being, requires something more complex than the latest "cool" sneakers. Helping our child find soul-feeding activities- whether martial arts, dance, sports, playing a musical instrument, backpacking, drawing, fixing or building things, journal writing, singing or rappping or whatever speaks to who they are- is a needed balance to the quick fixes of our consumer-oriented culture.
-Jon Kabat-Zinn
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