Wow.
Why can't people keep things simple?
It isn't about how much you have, or what you can show off.
It's about the blessings that G-d gives and how you can pass them on to others.
Stop the competition.
To this day, my kids have NEVER even had a Nintendo DS or a PSP. I invested on a Wii because it's great exercise and awesome FAMILY fun, but that's it.
They don't walk around with cell phones or with the most expensive clothes or tennishoes.
Ladies and gentlemen, except for when there is a special occasion, we shop at Target or at Wal Mart.
I am raising my children to be thankful for having clothes!
Every day I remind them of how rich we are in comparison to the rest of the world and THEY REALLY get it.
Yes, they've been made fun of by other kids who wonder why they don't carry around the usual gadgets, but they have learned how to deal with the peer pressure.
So I don't drive the most expensive car around... but I am richer than others because the car I drive is paid off. I don't owe it to the bank.
So I spend like $500 a year fixing whatever goes wrong with it, but that is better than spending $500 a month on car payments.
Please, don't harass my kids.
They are happy and they don't plug into "gadgets" to disconnect from their family. We have actual CONVERSATIONS in the car and we actually spend quality time together.
When their friends come over to play, they are not allowed a single moment in front of the television. Unless they are all watching a movie, they go OUTSIDE to play. They jump and run and swim! They tackle each other and roll all over the grass and the dirt... like normal kids should.
They are not parked in front of a video game console indoors, missing out on a beautiful blue sky and lovely day.
My kids actually read and not by force. They prefer "Books A Million" or the library to a movie theater. They prefer a new interesting book to a television show.
Do we go to Olive Garden once or twice a month? Of course! Spending $30-$40 on a nice and healthy family dinner is better than spending more than that several times a month at McDonald's! That stuff is junk!
My kids eat healthy!
If they can't eat healthy when we go out, then we wait to eat healthy at home.
Other than that, it's sandwiches and Caprisuns in an ice cooler in the trunk of the car until we can get to where we're going.
Life is expensive, but we have learned to balance it out.
You want to compete because you think that living in a six bedroom house makes ME rich?
Please climb down from your tree of ignorance and listen up.
You can live in a CAVE and if you are FREE of DEBT, you are among the richest in this world.
We don't live out of appearances.
We are hard working simple folks. We buy things cash. We don't believe in credit. We only take out loans that we can pay within the month, if an emergency shows up.
We are selective with our friends and standoffish at times, because we have learned time and time again that people who have taken interest in a friendship with us, have only done so thinking that they can get something from us. It's always the same. They go to our house and look around and next thing we know, they are quick to assume that we are ready to lend them money. If I were to count the times that this has happened to us, I'd be rich for real.
Yes, we are reserved.
That doesn't mean that we don't laugh or rejoice. That doesn't mean that we are missing out on anything.
That just means that we don't go with the flow because we have learned (the hard way) that the flow doesn't always do the G-dly thing.
Don't let the crowd pressure you.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything.
We do help others, and when we do, it's from our heart.
We are just not out there to let people try to make us feel less for being who we are.
Like I said, stop harassing my kids.
They love life.
They love their family.
Above all things, they love G-d.
They don't need to "compete" to be happy.
They are happy just as they are and their friends have actually learned from them quite a bit.
To the point that we have a full house of kids playing at our backyard every single afternoon, because their friends have finally realized what they've been missing.
The running, the tagging, the improvised soccer games, the fire pit and marshmallow and smores after dark... you get the point.
Give your kids the world.
Give them your time, your energy and as the parent, DISCONNECT them from the stuff that keeps them disconnected from YOU.
If you have to, drag them out of their routine and make them sit at the table with you as a family.
TURN OFF the television.
Make an EFFORT to have a conversation with your children.
You will be amazed at how much YOU have missed out on.
Next time you see my kids and YOUR kids make fun of them for not having a cell phone or a PSP... remember this. My kids have face to face conversartions with their friends and family. They don't need to text their way through life. When was the last time that YOU had that? If you are into texting your kids rather than cuddling with them, that's your problem.
Do my kids get cell phones when we go out to the parks? Yes. They have the famous "Firefly" which allows calls and texting ONLY to family members and to 911. It is so small that it goes on a keychain or around their neck. It looks like a trinket, so nobody has to even know that it's a cell phone. It also comes with the famous GPS "chaperone" service, which actually helps locate your child if they ever get lost or taken. All you do is program it to your phone and you get the exact location of where they are.
Very small and very inexpensive. I don't have to worry that someone is texting my kids with porn or that my daughter could meet a perv on Facebook.
Finally... get a life and let us live ours.
If you spend your time talking about me, it's definitely because my life is way more interesting than yours.
Sincerely,
Rose
