I started The Green-eyed Momster to share the difficulties of making greener choices for my family and combating stealth advertising targeted to kids. Georgia was three and a half at the time, and it was a staggering task to explain want vs. need, sparkly and toxic vs. pure and boring, and that if something is Princess-pretty it’s quite likely to break within a couple of weeks. She was exposed to some commercial things at her crunchy co-op preschool, but we able to give her careful doses of consumer culture, at a pace slow enough for our comfort and fast enough to keep her in the real world.

But now she’s in Kindergarten, and as we left her first K-pal birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese I shuddered to realize we’re not equipped to deal with this next level. The signs have been clear, and I’ve been fooling myself into thinking I could handle it.

Some recent sketches that have left me reeling:

• “I like high tops, but pink isn’t my favorite color anymore! Blue is my favorite color now so when can I get blue high tops?” I replied, “When you need new sneakers.” Georgia wrinkled her nose and said, “What about if I just WANT new sneakers?”

• “We have to WALK??? Why can’t we just drive???”

• While shopping for the Chuck E. Cheese party pal she went into a consumer frenzy over everything that had Tinkerbell on it, and I used the old list trick, “It’s really close to Christmas, so we can put that stuff on your list.” She balked, “Awww, the list? Does it have to go on the list? Can’t I just have it now?”

• And on a day when she had been particularly horrid, “Can I have a special treat because I was so nice to you and stopped whining?” I managed to remain calm, “No, rewards are not for every nice thing you do, doing the good thing is the reward.” That fell flat, and more whining ensued.

I am facing new challenges, and it’s become clear that I need back up! I went back to a book I started reading when Georgia was younger. It’s called Living Simply with Children by Marie Sherlock, A Voluntary Simplicity Guide For Moms, Dads, & Kids Who Want To Reclaim The Bliss Of Childhood & The Joys Of Life. I remember thinking a lot of the suggestions were a little too old for Georgia, and besides, she was so reasonable back then. But now I am renewing my efforts, and am going to put some of the very great ideas to the test. Living Simply with Children takes my goals to another level, and makes a ritual of the thinking and the actions, so it’s not just me being a randomly annoying mom. So check back here for simple living updates, in between some green holiday ideas that we’ll be trying in the coming weeks.

Photo credit: downing.amanda