35 Socrates said" Suck what?"

As guilty as I am of imposing my own philosophies on you, I try not to demand that you adhere to anything that I believe. I only give you my opinion and let you debate on whatever subject we cover for the day. Are you tired of all these gurus on tv trying to woo you to their side? What about all of the various media trying to convince you that you have to be forever young, good looking, wealthy, highly intelligent and on and on. Well, I say "tough". You may be good looking or you may have a good job and you may be intelligent, but they(I will heretofore refer to the ephemeral powers-that-be as "they") want you to believe that you are not good enough. You need to buy this cream that does"X" and you should wear "Y" because that's what some trendy, young skank in hollyweird does. The shows we watch have you jaded into believing that all 20 to 45yr old women, married or not, are having hot monkey sex with hot, hip doctors and lawyers. Holy FREAK! It's no wonder our kids are so messed up! We give them a cell phone and send them to school. They still have cliques, like we did. They still want the latest trends like we did. They still have social distraction like we did. But....the media saturation and the instant communication ability has pushed their minds into overdrive. There is nothing left to wait on. You can instantly find anything out about anything at the touch of a button. They chirp and tweet and post about what who did on what reality show/cop drama/ Dr. show/ teen drama that they just watched. One trend barely catches hold before the next one rises to take its place. There are too many game systems to keep up with , too many different phones that they all want to carry with them, too many downloads for their phone/ipod and wayyyy too many fashion trends all jostling for position and market share. Remember not so long ago when a certain type of jeans would be in fashion for at least a season, maybe for a couple years? What about your old game system? Nintendo? N64? Atari? Popular for a year or so and then it's new and improved. Let's back up. I have diverted from my path. As adults, we (in general) go to work, try to keep a home and family and occasionally get to relax. Just like our children, we are over-saturated by what "they" think we should be doing and what we should have. We are all supposed to live in $350,000 houses in a cul-de-sac in the nicest neighborhood in town, look like our parents were thoroughbreds, sleep and/or be married to an adonis or some golden goddess. Well, ladies and germs, I am here to tell you that all that B.S. does not matter. How many of you get caught up in it? Do you long for the cute doctor you see all the pretty nurses and interns and doctors and patients lusting after? Sigh. (in head...) "I wish that was me." Then in your everyday life you become unhappy with your partner, whether you care to admit it or not. You look at your house and your vehicles and your possessions with disdain and think" Why cant we have ____ like so-and-so?" Why? Why? Why? Indeed. Personally, I would love to look like Dr. Dreamy and live in a million dollar listing but reality sets in about 5 minutes after you see the show/ad. I like my house because I built it with my own two hands. Even if you didnt build your own, you should be happy: You are surviving. Oh, dont give me that" JUST surviving." Life is a struggle. It's great to escape from reality for a while at the end of a long day, but just bring yourself back to earth afterward. If you want some of those trendy things, just ask yourself"What good have they done this starlet or that one?" Multiple divorces/relationships that end in heartache? More and more expenditures to the point that they probably dont have much more cash than what you do. They pay people to do everything for them. To protect them. To buy their things they want because they cant walk outside. I'm sure they have plenty of perks and not all of them are the same, but maybe sometimes its good to be everyday. To be ordinary. We all go to parks and have fun. We go to zoos, museums, attractions and enjoy them, and more than likely we dont have to worry about paparazzi in our faces. We may have to worry about our kids running amok, but we dont have to worry about what the nameless, faceless masses want from us. Well, except bill collectors. I dont care if I dress like Matt Lauer or if I have the latest I-phone whatchamadookey, I just want a phone to call people that matter to me and to call for help when I beat the guy in line in front of me paying with pennies half to death. ($23 at a grocery store. True story) You ladies that read this post: your husband/boyfriend is with you for a reason(read a couple of rants back:) ) and chances are, he doesnt give a rat's butt about Dr. Dreamy, Paris Hilton(sssskkkkkaaaannnnkkkk) , or what label you're wearing, or that extra line on your face when you smile or a few extra pounds. So you do, WHY? Because most of your life, you've been told that you HAVE to. Take a few minutes to consider it. Next time your child wants"X" take a few minutes to explain the realities to them. My boys have gotten along fine without most of the new crap that has come out, although they do have to mooch game time now and then(Halo, Need for Speed, etc...all good games, but I just cant justify so much money for a game that will sit idle in a few weeks). If you have to explain it a thousand times, then do it. They will be the better for it in the long run. It's okay to want for your child and it's okay to buy these things for your child, but if it is a drain on your finances and will cause you hardships to continually keep them trendy because their classmates may think the wrong thing, then isn't it wrong? They may understand now and maybe it will be the elusive"someday", but eventually they will have the "AHA" moment and realize what really matters: Love, patience, understanding, instruction and cartoons. Teach them to care for their family and friends and live within their means, and the rest will follow. Now, as we part for the day, I will go see what Oprah tells me to read and what Rachael Ray wants me to fix in 30minutes. Maybe Dr. Phil will tell me why my dog has a guilt complex and then later, I can see what kind of shoes Dr. Meredith is wearing so Roz can be trendy this week and then maybe Homer Simpson can show me what beer to drink....wait, he only drinks Duff. Whew. That's a relief. Oh well, where the hell's the remote?....