The Levheim's are having a crisis.
Max had a birthday last week and got LOTS of cool new stuff. However, he still feels unsatisfied and is asking for even more stuff. Part of this
need for stuff can be chalked up to his obsessive personality, part because he is going through an unhappy time (poor little guy). I also place part of the blame on our 'if it hurts, buy more stuff' society. Whatever the reason, it is distressing to have a little person who always wants more and believes the next greatest toy/thing will make him a happy person.
So, we are trying to teach him about how having too much stuff won't necessarily make you happy, a realistic concept of how much stuff he has in comparison to most people, and some notion of working for social justice and how this is all tied together. Whew-- big concepts for a little guy!
As of today, we are taking a 'fast', and not buying new consumer goods for a month. Obviously we can buy food, toilet paper, etc. but nothing else. Wish us luck! We're learning about alternative consumption by viewing a blog about 'the compact': http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecompact/
We're looking for other suggestions.
