Sound-off...Sort of...

I was just sitting here wondering.  I'm wondering about extreme couponing.  Not the show necessarily, but the obsession with couponing.  I understand the reasoning behind wanting to save money and be good stewards of what we have, but I think a lot of America has gone coo-coo.  On several occasions I have attempted to "coupon" and have been (WOW!) completely blown away by how much time it takes to put together a shopping trip.  We're talking hours and hours day after day.  There's so much of my children's lives that I want to be a part of and I think it is important to be in their lives.  AND if I'm spending all that time on the computer and clipping coupons what message am I sending to them?  I can think of a few...1) Mommy doesn't have time for us, 2) Saving money is more important than listening to my heart, or 3) We don't matter to Mommy or Daddy or to this family.  THAT is just 3 things.  Time goes by so quickly and we have our children for such a short amount of time before they are grown and gone, I think it's just a shame that we are so taken with the "going thing."  It's exactly what I want to guard against with my children.  Teaching them to love their neighbor, give back to the community, love God and country, yep, those things are what we should be more concerned about.  If it's something that draws us away from God and Godliness we should steer clear.