I was perfectly content with my decision. I had dealt with all of the uncertainties and second-thoughts, or so I had thought. My youngest daughter is ready to move out of her crib and into a bed. My wife and I were deciding between an expensive bunk bed (that would also require us to throw away my older daughter’s perfectly good bed) and an inexpensive toddler bed. We made our decision to go with the toddler bed. Everything was great, or so I thought.

Then I spoke to my sister. It turns out that she is considering getting bunk beds for her kids. Now, all of a sudden, I want bunk beds again. Not only do I want them, I feel like I’ll be upset if I can’t get them. I’m concerned that I’ll be depriving my children of an important youth experience. This is ridiculous. I’m not competitive with my sister. I’m not a keep up with the Joneses kind of guy. Why am I feeling this way?

I think that I’m pretty well grounded, but when these feelings start popping up, I need to remember what happiness is - for me and my kids. We live in a marketing heavy society in which we are constantly told to want more. I need to remind myself that I’m happy. I don’t want to go into a full rendition of “Happiness Is . . .” (although two kinds of ice cream is definitely part of it for me). I’ll substitute Sheryl Crow for Charlie Brown - “It’s not having what you want; It’s wanting what you’ve got.”

And, oh yeah. Now I remember. I’m pretty happy.