Day 26 - Popular notion the world has wrong

April challenge
Day 26 - What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?

Hmm, I have to say that I don't have much authority on this topic. But I'll just put in my little two cents worth.

While I've never really been an avid shopper, my views on even my own shopping habits changed drastically last year while I was living in Tanzania. For the first time in my life I experienced eight whole months of no consumerism. There were no Halloween decorations overtaking grocery stores from September through the end of October, no Thanksgiving reminders in the form of giant turkeys (in either October or November), not even much going on around Christmas or Easter. Yes, I missed the festive spirit during Christmas a little bit, but really I was having such a blast preparing to spend a week with my sister in Cairo that I barely stopped to think about the lack of commercialized Christmas hubbub. All in all, it was the most peaceful consumer year of my life! Yes, I bought things throughout the year. A good bunch of food (but the cheapest fruits and veggies I've ever bought in my life, and probably the freshest). I did some friendly bartering with the Maasai merchants at the local Maasai market for keepsakes or souvenirs to give loved ones when I got back home. I even went on two safaris, and one trip to Pemba Island when Jonathan came to visit. But, none of that was motivated by any sort of commercialization. If I wanted a certain something, I thought about it and if I deemed it worthy of buying (or necessary), I bought it. No commercial, ad, or billboard told me to do so. And that brings me to the one popular notion I can say, from my own experience, that the world has most wrong. Buying stuff. Yes, buying stuff can be nice. It can be fun and exciting and give you good memories. But buying too much stuff, and especially stuff you really don't need or even want after a few weeks, is never good. I will always vote for putting money towards experiences than things. Every single time!

And I'll just mention one more thing that North America, at least (if not some other places as well), has gotten wrong in the past decade or so. The idea that helicopter parenting is OK. I know I shouldn't really be able to give my opinion on this matter yet since I have no children of my own, but I have spent a good deal of time around children, and ones that I love very much, too, and I will never, never think it's OK to be a smothering, never-let-your-children-out-of-your-sight-for-one-millisecond, helicopter parent. My new favourite blog (well, one of them...you should know by now that I have a lot of favourites) is Free-Range Kids, a blog dedicated to letting overprotective parents know that their kids CAN do things on their own, even from quite young. You know, our grandparents used to. So why shouldn't our kids be able to, too?? Check it out sometime if you are interested. (She also has a TV show Bubble Wrap Kids on the Slice channel in Canada and World's Worst Mom in Europe.) I pretty much agree with the author on every single article I've read of hers so far. Kids are just happier when they're given some free time to just do things their own way. And when they're empowered by their parents to know they are smart and capable enough to do some things on their own. I don't think that will never change.

*Note: This post might or might not have been inspired by the latest MMM blog I've read. But really, I've been thinking these thoughts for awhile now, so anything I've read recently has only just reinforced my own thoughts.