Apparently, I'm not the only one in my family highly susceptible to the power of advertising. My little sister will ask our parents to buy her anything for which she sees an infomercial. She was inordinately upset when Billy Mays died. Seriously, it was sad to see her so broken up, and then, when Michael Jackson (on of her favorite artists) died as well, it was like the universe was personally picking on her. When she stayed with us last summer, she must have asked me to buy her an "instyler" a thousand times. I threatened to beat her with one if she asked again. At that point, she realized she had better luck asking for something cheaper and switched to a ped egg. I started heaving giant sighs and wishing I hadn't made so many empty threats over the past 15 years that they lost all meaning.
I can't condemn her too much however, because as I mentioned, I am highly likely to be swayed by a commercial, just perhaps not as much as Maddie. We both come by it honestly, however. My father has purchased impulse items from both QVC and Skymall. I kid you not--Skymall. Can you say "sucker?"
Since I love a good commercial, of course, I watch the Super Bowl--even when it's a team I only care marginally about (the Packers) playing against a team I completely hate (the Steelers).
Sam woke up from her nap just before halftime, and got to take part in the snacking and football watching that is the Super Bowl at our house. Eating a dinner of various chips and honey roasted peanuts elicited an excited "I like the Super Bowl!" out of her. I also discovered that she pays a lot of attention to me when I don't think she is. Once, when I booed at a Steelers touchdown Sam asked "Mommy, why you say 'BOO?'" So I told her, "Mommy doesn't like the Steelers." Sam's response--"Okay! GO HOME STEELERS!" See, smart kid.
Later, when I cheered for the Packers, she asked me "What a Packers?" Technically, I don't know what a "packer" refers to, but I do know they were the team against the Steelers and I will root for them every time in that case.
The other thing Sam has been paying attention to, apparently, are the talks Daniel and I have been having with her about money. She has been asking for a lot of stuff lately. A lot of stuff. Like pretty much anything she sees. We can't drive by Jamba Juice without her asking for one, she asks to go to McDonalds for lunch and dinner all the time, and when we started explaining to her that (nutrition of french fries temporarily aside) those things cost money and we don't always have extra money to spend on treats, she started changing her tune. At that point she started to ask "If we don't have enough monies for Jamba Juice, can we go to QT? That is less monies." So true, but not at all the point--and can someone please explain to me how on earth my two-year-old figured out the relative costs of smoothies and slurpees? Finally, after several weeks of trying to curtail her maneuvers and alternate options, when she wants something and I say no, she will automatically answer with me in unison--"We have to save our money."
So, yesterday, she was playing on the floor while we watched the Super Bowl, when a commercial for Progressive insurance came on. I wasn't paying much attention to it, as I'd seen it before, and Sam didn't seem to be even looking at the screen. All of a sudden, her head snapped up, riveted to the TV. After a few seconds, she looked right at me and said "Mom--we need this! They SAVE YOU MONEY!"
There you go--the answer to all our money problems is to purchase Progressive Insurance. I'm sure the Progressive people would be thrilled to realize their message is being absorbed by impressionable young minds. Now I get to deal with the reality that there is yet another generation of my family who will be so easily swayed by the suits on Madison Avenue. This one is being raised in a time where there are commercials playing on the endcaps of the aisles of Wal-mart, so it's extra scary to think about! On the other hand, if Sam was paying that much attention to Super Bowl commercials, I guess I should just thank my lucky stars she wasn't asking for a big giant truck or Bud Light, right? It could be worse.
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