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One of the many things I do not regret when raising my children is the mantra I repeated when ads appeared on what we used to call the television. My kids grew up with TVs and remotes, not tablets and swipes and we watched most things together. Thus, we were forced to view a number of ads before, during and after programs.

Whenever an ad appeared I would say, “See that??? The people that created this want you to Want More Need More Have More. They don’t want you to be happy with what you have!!” When my kids were toddlers, their responses were “No Mommy. It’s on TV so it’s true.” I would repeat that there were people’s jobs to make people want to buy things. Sometimes the ad made it look like life was a lot more fun. Like summer is full of jumping off the dock and a tray full of lemonade.

By the time my kiddoes entered kindergarten, they had a healthy dose of skepticism. At least in my mind they did. When toy ads would congest the airwaves between Halloween and Christmas, I would smile and say that the people that created those ads wanted you to think this toy really worked like that and that they even wanted you to have a fit in order to get your parents to buy it.

Unfortunately for my kids, I taught them that fits did not change my mind. Fits only tired them out. I favored words and kind tones. I also taught them that they would get 3 Christmas gifts but that’s for another post.

When they admired an ad, I would also validate that yes that toy did look really cool. My kids naturally came to see that not everything works out the way it’s depicted because they experienced disappointment from time to time with a game or item that was poorly made or broke easily. I would join them in their disappointment.

By the time they were old enough to save their allowances for a desired item, they were pretty discerning. Oh, that’s about personal responsibility and learning to wait. Two more blog posts.

To this day, even though my kids no longer live at home I continue to view the ads I have the good fortune to stream through my Have More Need More Want More lens and smile.

Disclaimer: this post was in no way intended to offend any marketing entities real or imagined and is simply a report of a parenting approach that was successful in my family