Want vs Need

Definition of want: a desire, wish, crave, to feel a need for.
Definition of need: a requirement

Now the battle begins…want vs need.
I figured since it was Christmas and most people are out buying things their kids want and not necessarily need, I’d go ahead and talk about wants vs needs (including my own little battle within).

Most adults know the difference in a want vs a need. You may want that new car, but you don’t need it since the one that’s already paid in full is still running just fine. You may want that new diamond necklace, but you don’t need it. I’m sure you can survive without a diamond necklace along with many other wants this holiday season.

Now, most kids don’t grasp or don’t want to grasp the concept of necessity (need) vs luxury (want). They see something they want, and they want it now or well…suffer the consequences. I mean, how could any parent simply say no and just not get every toy the child wants? (read with sarcasism).

Recently in the news they talked about a letter writing initiative started by a Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Their site had this stated on it:
As families struggle to cope with the growing economic crisis, they won’t be getting any relief from the toy companies that bombard children with ads during the holiday season. Even though experts predict parents will spend less on toys and gifts this year, marketers are still planning their usual holiday ad blitz to kids.

It’s never fair for corporations to bypass parents and market directly to children. But with parents everywhere worried about making ends meet, it’s especially cruel to bombard children with ads for expensive toys and electronics. It’s not bad to have some cool toys like RC helicopter but too many is not good.

Now, perhaps I’m older than my 40 years, but what happened to saying “No”. I mean, I’m sure as a child I didn’t get everything I wanted but now, years later I couldn’t tell you what I wanted so it couldn’t have been that big of a deal and I got over it apparently. I’m doing ok, don’t have any handicaps or issues because I may not have gotten everything I ever wanted in life as a child. Sorry, but that’s part of life. Everyone will be told “No” at some point in their life…be it to a piece of candy, a toy, a date, a promotion, a raise, credit approval, etc. eventually we all here those two letters N-O. If a child has been handed everything and doesn’t know how to relate to the fact they may not get every single thing they want or every thing that is advertised, then how will they handle life’s bigger “No’s” later on? Isn’t it the parent’s responsibility to determine what they can or can’t afford for the holidays or any other time of the year for that matter.

Even as an adult, I want the new Tmobile G1 Phone. Oh, the things I could do with that. See, I love techie things. Do not give me perfume, chocolate, clothes, jewelry as a gift. Give me tools, techie stuff any day of the year to make me happy! Ahhhh back to the G1…the touch screen, the QWERTY keyboard, the one click google search, high speed 3G network connection…shall I go on? Now I want that phone…and want it badly. But, do I need it? Nope, my little Nokia 5300somethingortheother music player phone will suffice. Granted, I can’t go online, I don’t have a keyboard, I don’t have any “bells and whistles” except it plays music. Whopeee LOL. But it works, it rings when people call and it works when I want to make a call or text. So, really isn’t that what a phone is supposed to do? I mean do I really have to be able to type on full keyboard while texting, I mean is it so bad that I have to hit the number 2 key 3 times to get to letter C? So, see because I probably didn’t get every single thing they advertised on TV, well actually back then I think it was the Sears Holiday Catalog we used to get and my brother and I would go through it and make our wish list…well, back to the issue…I’m sure I didn’t get every item I ever wrote on a wish list and I’m good with that. If I had gotten every item back then I’d probably be sitting here at 40 years old whining, crying, stamping my feet and holding my breath because I want the G1 phone but am pretty confident that Santa’s not bringing it which would mean I’d have to buy it and that’s not an option since I don’t need it!

So, really is it all that bad to explain to your kids that you can’t buy something just because they may want it? I don’t think so. Everyone would probably be in better financial state if they only bought what they needed and not what they wanted…just saying, lots of foreclosures  probably wouldn’t have happened if that were the way people thought.