Complaint: It's Finally Started.

Yes, the day has come at long last at my house, the land of no network TV: the kids are singing jingles.

They're singing jingles. Like from TV.

Probably most kids the same age have seen hundreds, nay, thousands of commercials by this time, but not us.

Do I think we're better than people who watch TV?

No.

Do I think we're better OFF?

Yes.

Commercials just make you want stuff. I should know, I grew up on them. And still, to this day, I am seduced by the latest flawless-face-making-beauty product from Maybelline, or L'Oreal. I am. I'm a sucker for the false promises, bullshit claims and fantasy outcomes that advertising dangles in front of me. Some days, I really do want to look fabulous and feel fresh, and if that deodorant will do it, I'm buying. I told you, I'm a sucker.

So maybe that's why I'm a little bit horrified that my kids were singing some shampoo commercial set to the tune of "These are a Few of My Favorite Things". (Blasphemy! Julie Andrews cries every time they play that ad.)

I don't mind them singing. I quite like it, most of the time. But singing a stupid jingle...is exactly what my sister and I used to do. I remember basking in the foam of the ocean, pretending we were in a Fa foam bath, complete with aria-like soundtrack back in the 70s.

So what's my problem?

The kids are seeing ads on Hulu because I LET them watch Hulu. And they're seeing a lot less ads than they would if we had regular cable TV.

But I do hate being manipulated. And I hate for my kids to be manipulated.

But really, couldn't the suits at Madison Avenue come up with something better than that damn shampoo jingle? I mean, please.