You know the drill. You buy your kids a treat while you're at the mall and five minutes later they're begging for something more. Or you let each child have a turn at something and still someone complains that their turn was shorter than someone else's.

Kids seem to be always wanting more. Never satisfied. Always comparing and wanting things to be exactly the same and “fair.” (They're an awful lot like adults at times, aren't they?)

It leaves me frustrated, looking for ways to teach contentment. “Be happy and thankful for what you have,” I say. “Don't worry about everyone else.”

But I also think a certain amount of discontent is healthy, leading people to strive and work and improve their lives. Better not completely squash that desire in the hearts of the young (though I'm not sure you really could, as ingrained as it is in our human nature). They will need it later to get on in life.

And yet I wonder where are those fine lines? Where does contentment dangerously turn to apathy? Where does a healthy desire for More and Better change into greed and emptiness? How do you foster a healthy contentment balanced with a desire to get ahead and improve and become more than you are?

I suppose it is a matter of the heart. A question of where your sense of self-worth and value comes from. A matter of where you put your hope and faith. Tricky things to teach your children. Tricky things to apply to your own adult life, too.