It’s been several decades that the arts and the sporting industry have flourished in this Country.

Let’s focus on children’s sporting and dance activities. When I was growing up, rarely did we baby boomers enroll in soccer, hockey, dance, figure skating, etc., from the time we were four until we graduated high school. With what money? Now it seems we all enroll our children in these activities. Wonderful skills to have and lots of fun learning them. Every year they compete and each child receives a trophy or plaque as a memento or as a reward for winning.

Since both my parents passed away, it was necessary to sort through all their belongings and divide them between my siblings. My parents were very frugal just like the rest of their generation. They did not waste money on frivolous things and they lived with the necessities. What do we do with all those trinkets, knick knacks and things they held onto just because they paid good money for them even though they serve no purpose anymore or are just old, used and who wants it?

~ We sent them to the dump! ~

It will take awhile for all those trophies and plaques to get there (to the dump) but get there they will …. sooner or later. They are made of ~ precious resources …. ~ marble bases for the metal trophies, wood and metal for the plaques and let’s not forget that beautiful fabric they dressed up in for their dance recitals … and those elaborate Halloween costumes that we never in our wildest dreams thought about because they didn’t exist (and what about a-l-l t-h-a-t c-a-n-d-y, pumpkins and decorations)… and the resources used to manufacture the sports equipment.

~ How serious are we about this “Saving Our Environment” stuff? ~ How much are we willing to compromise?

Now that my kids are grown (and I don’t see them anymore) and I’m strapped for cash ~ oh, how I wish I hadn’t offered them all those luxuries that I wish I had been given the chance to enjoy as a child. The worst part is, although I have great memories of spoiling my kids with some of these things, they don’t remember. They were very young and their memories have dwindled. Actually, most of the memories are non existent ~ and ~ everyone else their age did these things. Like they were special!