Happy Thanksgiving!
It's one of my favorite holidays. Why? There are NO presents - people just come together to share a meal.
But what often happens the day AFTER Thanksgiving? People go shopping...I've heard that it's one of the busiest shopping days of the year. It seems the stores are decorating, and playing holiday music, earlier and earlier. All so that people have more time to buy their stuff.
How does all this shopping, and general commercialism, affect our children? Not in a good way, that's for sure. They become obsessed with having the latest gadgets and trendy clothes. Forget about whether they NEED the items, or if they're of the best quality.
I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for ways to help my children find ways to make informed choices, and not be influenced by commercials. I don't ban the television, but I do like to make examples out of what I consider to be the worst commercials ever to target children.
The development of media literacy is so important these days. Technology makes it so much easier for advertisers to market directly to our children.
I'd like to share two fantastic articles (and an eye-opening video) that I found on Parenthood.com recently:
So, as we head into the holiday season, I'd like to suggest that we all try to carry as much of our Thanksgiving gratitude with us as possible. If we remind our children to be thankful for all that they have - which is often more than many other people have - we're giving them a gift for life.
Here are some other posts relating to this subject:
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
