There was a discussion I was reading online about how humility is almost completely absent from politics. In fact, it seems to be somewhat absent from American culture in general. We have a tendency to wave flags and boast, while McMansions, cars and designer handbags become a point for the status obsessed and materialistic. I don't know how things got that way, but I don't care for it.
Why is this on my mind? In part because I don't want my kid to learn this behavior. I know he doesn't realize it yet, but he's pretty well off. He gets to visit Walt Disney World all of the time, and cost is no object when it comes to getting him the therapy he needs. He's got a good thing going. There have been some discussions lately on CoasterBuzz about whether or not Disney caters to the well-off, or who can afford to go, which made me think even more about Simon's sense of reality. (Sidebar: I never thought about it, but annual passes for the three of us are cheaper than the total cost of a us coming from out of town to stay and eat there for a week. It's not even close.)
Being kind and looking out for other people, to me, is what makes a good human being. It's not easy to be like that all of the time, but it's definitely something that has to be learned early in life. We're trying our best to keep that sort of thing on his radar. We explain to him our involvement in charity work, though giving time is easier than explaining money donation to him. Of course there's the whole sharing thing that you try to get every kid to do. We also explain to him that toys he no longer plays with should be given to other children, though we haven't been consistent about that. He likes to talk a lot about our car, but fortunately I think he does it because technology is interesting to him (same reason we bought it).
I will try not to overthink it, but our boy is at the age now where he's smart enough to observe and adopt behavior. Man, it was easier, if more tiresome, in the days when you just had to feed him and wipe his butt!
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