Whatever happened to jelly and ice cream?

On any child’s birthday the sound of screams and ripping paper

as the parcel gets torn hurriedly with glee across a new seam

and the children’s delight at the once yearly caper.

What happened to children being given what they need,

with one really great present  making them smile till Christmas

instead of cutting open a money tree and watching it bleed,

the politics of early consumerism driven in early on mass?

It is as if as a society we have said that yes the children our future,

however let’s treat them like small gods and entice them

with unrealistic treats and expectations beyond our means.

Material things not the thought of pursuits of culture,

should be the thought we curtail and cut off at the stem,

for if we spoil them now, what on earth will they be like as teens?

Ian D. Hall 2015