raise my son to respect our Planet

I vow to teach my son:

1. Gardening and growing our own food.

2. RECYCLING!!! How to read the number codes for plastics, how to properly rinse the item, to not combine them with regular trash, separating stuff, etc.

3. To not need new stuff all the time. Used stuff is just as good, if not better because the money saved can go toward education, etc.

4. Those “fun” pre-packaged kid foods drive me NUTS. I will teach him to take those same fun foods and stick them in re-usable tupperware.

5. We can walk to places instead of driving. He will appreciate the outdoors and how nice it can be to just take a walk.

6. Seriously limit TV time so that he isn’t exposed to commerical after commercial. Less crap to buy.

7. Take him to the carnival for his birthday, or camping, or to another fun event instead of buying MORE toys to wrap in layers of paper.

He is only 10 months old, but I still see how it will be a struggle to raise him with the belief that more stuff won’t make you happy.

For example, the people downstairs recently gave us 6 bags of boys’ clothing of various sizes. 6 BAGS!!! My son realistically only needs about 10 outfits for each size. I do his laundry once a week, so really he doesn’t need much.

Anyway, I chose to keep all the clothes and sort through them whenever he reaches a new size. I am thankful that I can clothe him for free until he is 4 years old!

BUT… my mother in law tells me the other day that there is a huge sale at Gymboree. I tell her that Elias has TONS of clothes already and we DON’T need any more. Yet she insists on it anyway and low and behold… she shows up today with 3 new outfits for him.

Can you see how our society just HAS TO BUY stuff, whether the need is there or not???

George Carlin says that Americans buy shit they don’t need with money they don’t have, lol :)

I am copying this straight from an online article. I forgot to get the source of the article so I don’t know the site I got it from or who wrote it. But I found it inspiring.

Consider this: Almost six in 10 parents in America think their children are either “very” or “somewhat” spoiled.

Did they ever stop to think that their children being spoiled might have something to do with how many of their school-age children have:

—A computer in their rooms (40 percent)

—TV in their rooms (38 percent)

—Phone in their rooms (53 percent)

And how many of their teens also have:

—Credit cards paid for by parents (18 percent)

—Cell phone (28 percent)

—Car or motorcycle (52 percent)

—Horse (4 percent)

The teens who escaped all signs of indulgence (approximately 80 of 640) shared five positive traits, according to a survey titled “Parenting Practices”:

—Their families frequently ate dinner together

—Their parents were not divorced or separated

—The children were required to keep their rooms clean

—They had no phones in their rooms

—They did community service

The parents of those teens, meanwhile, shared a “TLC” approach:

Time — They spent more time with their children — be it at supper, at school or at bedtime.

Limits — They set firmer limits on their children and at the same time expected more of them — such as keeping their rooms clean and managing allowances.

Caring — They took an interest in what their children were interested in — be it baseball or the latest CD or movie.