I Believe the Children Are Our Future.....

     .....I figured this was appropriate for recent events. For God's sake let the woman rest in peace. I love Whitney and all, she was and is a phenomenal talent taken too soon. But do we need to parade her body around like the pope? Believe me, there are millions of other things happening in this world today. Our troops are at war, there's a political debate that seems like it was drawn from a Three Stooges script and an economy thats one flush away from dumping into a National landfill. However, not what this blog is about.

     Back to the song....For many of you that know the next line in this song, Whitney said it the best. "I believe the children are our future." Now pay attention! "Teach them WELL and let them lead the way." I've got to say, as much as we want to blame the media, technology and entertainment content; the basis of who our children are turning out to be starts at home. To be fair, it's one of the hardest jobs I'm sure, and I can only speak from what I've witnessed as I don't yet have kids of my own, so as not to get on a high horse and knock those that are doing one of life's toughest jobs. Kudos to those that are great parents.

     But, I'm sure we have all witnessed at one point the epidemic of children running the household. Children "needing" the newest Playstation, or latest cell phone model, or designer clothing....WHAT?! It wasn't THAT long ago that I was a kid and there was this thing my parents used to tell me when I was craving some ridiculous new marketing trap, be it Nike pump sneakers, Super Nintendo or some other ridiculous device that we THOUGHT we needed to be accepted by our peers. Let's see, how did that saying go?.....My father said it well.....It started off simple and ended without room for argument. Ahhhhh, that's right......"No!" (There may have been some expletives used in between, but keeping this a somewhat tidy blog, I will trust you get the gist.) Now, not that we never got anything as kids but we were taught the value of it. Sometimes had to work for it, ya know....earn it. Kind of like the real world. Through this we learned to appreciate things and not take them for granted. Nowadays, parents go just a bit to over the edge when trying to tame the "little monsters" back at home that have demanded the latest and greatest and are firmly waiting for them back home, arms crossed, bottom lip in full pout until they see shiny new electronics come through the front door. True story: My sister worked some time at Target out in San Diego and literally had a woman get in her face after being told they were out of the Sony PSP (Handheld Playstation). Told her, "You don't understand miss! My kid NEEDS this. So where are they? You got them in the back? Did you reserve one that you aren't selling so you can bring it home?!" The audacity! The worst part was this was for an EASTER present. Not even Christmas! EASTER PRESENTS?! What happened to Peeps and a Cadbury Egg?! My sister calmly replied, "No ma'am, the status remains, we are still out of the PSP." My kid NEEDS this. No.....what your kid NEEDS is a swift kick in the ass and a dose of reality and probably a little exercise. Here's a whiffle ball and a bat. Send them outside to play and move around a little.

     I received a call one time at an office I was working at because someone from our number kept calling their daughter's cell phone. Here is how the call went:
     ME: "Broadcast Plus, Josh speaking."
     CALLER: "Hi. Someone at this number keeps calling my 7 year old on her cell phone and its uncalled for. Can you remove her number from your list?"
     ME: (What I actually said): "Im sorry sir, we will go ahead and make sure she isn't bothered again. Our apologies."

     ME: (What I should have said): "Im gonna go ahead and stop you sir.....did you say 7 year old? I believe what's uncalled for is that your daughter has barely learned what a prime number is, but she can speed dial and group text. That girl must have some well attended tea parties."

I was absolutely shocked. But we really should stop and look at what we are surrounded by. Our role models. Snooki? The Kardashians? The "Real" Housewives? First of all the only thing "Real" on any one of those shows is the script. OK, I know, Im going to step down off the soap box and try and keep it light. God knows I can go on about this.

     In closing, it's just the reality that Hide and Seek has turned into Hunt and Kill, family time around the table has turned into "I'll text you later", and ironically enough, the respect for Mom and Dad is dependent on labels and price tags. I can luckily say to my parents, "Thank You." It was a perfect balance of being treated to some material things but most importantly values and what's truly important. And once again, Whitney said it best....."I Will Always Love You."