I grew  up with one television in the house that got three channels: ABC, NBC, CBS and on occasion PBS.   I say on occasion because we were too far from the station to get clear signal.   At one point, we bought an outdoor antenna and picked up PBS in full clarity but that took a few years.    Most of my entertainment as a kid were 40 year old encyclopedias that my grandfather gave to my mother and hanging out with some neighborhood kids.

Today my kids have 500+ channels of TV, video on demand, music on demand on streaming on high speed network connection displayed on HDTV.   My kids have iPods that house movies, music, and a variety of games.     My kids have high speed internet and access to multiple computers in the house which include 5 laptops and two desktops. My kids have portable Nintendo DS as well as a Nintendo Wii.   My kids have a half dozen board games including at least four variations of Monopoly, Operation, various card games, and a garage full of gear: bikes, razors, basketball, soccer ball, badminton, swimming gear and camping gear.   Where I went on two vacations in 18 years, my kids have visited at least 40 locations worldwide and they’re still not teenagers yet.

My kids generally receive between $200 to $400 cash on birthdays and other holidays not to mention a ton of toys and other goods and gift cards.  I often compare and contrast the life I had and the life they have and stand in sheer amusement that no matter how much or how little you have, sometimes life can seem boring.

Whenever the kids ask for something I tell them the same thing, “You’ll play with it for a few days then it’ll sit on a shelf until we give it away to some charity.”  My son recently asked for an ipod touch and asked him why he didn’t buy one with his own money.  He really didn’t have an answer other than he wanted me to spend the money instead of him.  I asked him if he knew what would happen if I bought the thing for him and he said, “I’ll play with it for 5 minutes then get bored with it.”   I smiled at him and nodded.

We’ll be headed off on a skiing vacation trip soon and I know the kids won’t be bored.  At the end of the day, all that really matters is that they get to spend time with mom and dad.   All the toys and other garbage really don’t mean much to them and they are finally learning that lesson on their own.    The consumer economy and demographic is quickly changing and I hope it is for the better.