To remember as a child

When dealing with children I try very hard to put myself in their shoes

When I was little we went on a school trip to the space museum. I didn't have enough money to get my family a present and get some of the space ice-cream. It was some kind of dehydrated ice-cream. It really was a silly little thing but it meant so much to me. It’s been about 32 years since that day and I still remember the sadness and disappointment.

It really means nothing now but there was another incident as well

We went on a class trip and there was a giant Jawbreaker that other kids bought but I didn't have enough money to get my family a present and get the jawbreaker so I never got one. I wanted one so bad. I see them in truck stops now but I won't buy one because it’s just a silly childhood thing.

What I'm getting at is there are things that seem silly to adults but they make a significant difference to a child. When we go to some place special I try to place myself back in to my childhood so I can see it from a child's point of view.

I think it has worked out well so far. When we were in Littlerock and I wanted nothing more than to go to the Outback steakhouse, we took the kids to Chucky Cheese. When we were at the zoo we got the kids some drink cups that had animal figures on them. The price of the glasses was more than the admission to the zoo and as I figured they don't have any interest in them now. The important part was that we got them at the time and we created a positive memory instead of a negative memory.

It may seem like a foolish waste of money but to put money as a higher importance than a child's self esteem is the real foolish thing.

I don't understand why it bothered me as a child to see the other children having those things that I didn't. Its foolish to have a $3 souvenir change a wonderful experience in to one where I felt beneath the other children.

My desire to stop our children from feeling inferior to other children is a give and take situation. We don't want to make material possessions important but we need to help them feel equal to the other children. The process takes constant evaluation of each instance but I believe that it is worth the effort.