I think because Thumper has a role the advertising business, he has stimulated a curiosity about the tricks of the advertising game for me. I pay more attention to labels and packaging than I did before.

And I have to say, I really get annoyed at some of the marketers today and their focus. Of course, we all have our own techniques when it comes to selling our services or products – but there are some things I want to go into in a second which requires your attention as an adult, and as a parent. Even if you don’t have children yet. In fact, it requires your highest dedication when raising your child.

On an aside – as for me, when it comes to advertising my services, I choose to maintain an honest offering of partnership when seeking new business clients.

What I would like to emphasize here is the actual packaging and advisement that our kids are subjected to day after day. Did you ever think about that?

Photo above by dospaz

Packaging is one thing I realized on my own. The picture on the box is never the same as the product inside of the box. The simplest example is frozen food products containing mystery meat. Then the additives, preservatives and so on that aren’t healthy in the long run if you are having them daily. Hidden sugars and salts are not good for you!

Then the creativity of the advertising minds is to get the consumer’s attention at all cost – sometimes by using targeted tactics to get a child’s interest. Children always want to try something new – and parents “sometimes” give in to their children’s pleas.

Now before I go any further, we do not have children yet but our friends do. We talk on the subject of children quite a bit. We do plan on having them after all.

Mommy buys Toddler Makeup

The other night, I shared a conversation with Thumper I had with one of our close friends. She had called me earlier to catch up.

The conversation was strained since she shocked me and I questioned her actions.

My friend, who shall remain unnamed, was concerned about her 3-year-old son taking away her 2-year-old daughter’s dolls and play makeup.

My reaction was this: Why the concern, he doesn’t know what it is anyway? Did you explain it to him, or did you just snatch it out of his hands with no explanation? What on earth possessed you to buy your toddler makeup in the first place? And – do you understand what message you are teaching her? Do you understand what message you are not teaching him by not talking to him?

We went back and forth on the matter. She was more concerned that her son was getting in touch with his feminine side more then anything else. Which I found hysterical.

I kept coming back to the purchase of the makeup. Personally, I can’t believe a two year old girl is going to want makeup. I put this on to mommy playing with the child “grown ups”, and that is just too much for me.

Several concerns comes to my mind.

I find it appalling that makeup is made for children. Then I look at the advertising on television and in magazines. Makeup ads are everywhere.

• First and foremost, it is exposing children to things unnecessary to them at an early age.
• It is influencing little girls that they need makeup to be attractive.
• Mommy is creating a future consumer for the makeup industry.
• What are you allowing your child to put on their skin?

I think this child is going to be prone to wanting Lancome or Clinique by the time she starts kindergarten. If her mom continues to push makeup on her daughter, the child will expect it as part of her attire. The kid is going to want to wear it everywhere. Then she will have to deal with other children who are likely going to laugh at her. So being ridiculed and made fun of is something the mom is needlessly subjecting this child to, if she continues to make her daughter up in play makeup, and if she continues to teach her something she has no need of knowing about for another 13 years or so.

As you can imagine, Thumper went off on this subject as well.

First, he just shook his head. Then, in total concern over the children, he said he had to step up and say something to my silly friend about parenting. This touched him because he has often seen how parents don’t take the time to explain matters to their children, and are often immature themselves.

He noted this couple could use a 12 year parenting class on nurturing and ethics. I couldn’t agree more with him.

When you stop to think about how long a child is at home – normally that is 18 to 19 years. All this time, they are learning from example, which is mainly from their parents. Plus, from what I have read, the first 3 years of a child’s life are the most important. Which makes total sense to me.

When we have children, Thumper and I will do our best to expose our kids to the things that are important for them to learn. No inappropriate music or unsupervised television replacement for a babysitter. No magazines laying around if you don’t want your kids to see them. And most certainly, no makeup until they are 49 or so.

Simple tools to teach with

I think a newspaper is a great tool to teach a child about these matters. Not only because reading about current events educates them, but you have advertising that you as a parent can explain to them. “This is a makeup ad for women, it is not for little girls.” Or: “Here is a holiday sale where we can save money!” Another oversight by many parents is not teaching good money management skills to children. This should start at the same time as allowances start. Learning how to save for something, and the lesson when they see it on sale, is better to learn at an age at which it can be explained to them, rather than when they are out on their own.

Educating your children about trends in clothing and technology is good. Mind you, I don’t mean telling them “this is in right now, we’re not buying anything else”. You know yourself that something in style today is out tomorrow. What I mean is educating our children about what trends are. Is it necessary to always have the newest stuff? Is it good to jump on every new product out there? Or is it rather all about companies marketing their stuff in hopes to sell more. You don’t want your kids to become materialistic. They have to know it isn’t what you have, but who you are, that makes you unique.

Again: it isn’t about the stuff, it’s about you. If you identify yourself through the stuff you own, well… you are not much more worth than what you paid for it.

Manners – and the so-called “Old School”

Something both Thumper and I agree upon as well is that interaction with adults is very important to children. We won’t sweep the child off into the playroom with the other children until they have greeted the adults. Polite children are respected children.

I also think that imagination is very important to a child. Reading classic books to them, and exposing them to classical music early will hopefully teach them to appreciate it more. Even if they might not know it yet – do you remember your parents doing this kind of thing to you? Do you remember how you liked it early on because you didn’t know better, then you started disliking it because it wasn’t “in”, and today – well, hm, it’s not too bad after all?

Another example: I would love to see more children playing Knights of the Round Table instead of sitting in front of the TV, playing games on an Nintendo. And probably eating chips.

How about little girls having tea parties instead of sleep-overs with pizza, chips and soda. Usually watching movies that not all parents have approved. I think this is also a mistake when parents assume a movie is going to be approved by each parent. I know I would not want a child of mine watching Bambi or Charlotte’s Web without me, or before the age of 12. The point is, the subject of death is one that should be explained by a parent. I know I still cry through both of these movies.

Start building – right from the start

An idea Thumper came up with is actually very good for children to overcome shyness and learn to talk in front of others confidently. He suggested we give them assignments to research and write a short story on. Which they will stand up and read in front of the family, and later on, maybe at a dinner party. Apart from instilling confidence and helping them overcome shyness, this will develop communication and socialization skills, and will hugely benefit them in the future.

Another idea is taking an article from the newspaper for them to read in front of an audience, and then have an open discussion or debate, and have the adults in on it. I feel this is a great learning technique a parent can use with their children.

But it’s not only the logical part of the brain that matters…

…it is also about a child’s creativity and sense of beauty and harmony. If they are into dance, playing an instrument, or singing, let them entertain you! You will gain something from it as well as they will.

Sports!

Outdoor activities are very important. That’s not only healthy (you may read “will improve their bloodflow through their body and brain which will improve and help grow just about everything”) – it’s also lots of fun. I’m thinking motor skills, fitness, and metabolism. And afterwards, or maybe before, have them define the rules of the game (making them research the history of the sport, maybe? And asking them to explain it to all at breakfast before the game… You get the picture). Perhaps they can draw up what the offline rule is in soccer, or even talk about their favorite team and players.

All of this is positive for them and very good feedback for you as a parent. If they are old enough, they may even decide to share why they prefer Adidas over Nike or the other way around. Don’t forget you already told them what a brand is and what it means. If you are lucky, your kid will impress upon the killer saving he and mommy and daddy made when purchasing his gear. But over all of this, don’t forget to have a game outside

Boring history… or exciting adventures?

One way you can spend quality with your children is reading them books about other countries and cultures. Make it fun: spin the globe and have one of them point to a country, then either get a library book or take the time to print out some facts they will enjoy learning about. If it is a longer topic, here’s a very good idea: split the topic up (you don’t want to read to them for five hours in a row when they are little). And on the following evenings, before you continue to explore a topic, have them repeat what they learned yesterday – in a fun and challenging way.

I also think having a library card is a great way for a child to learn responsibility, and if you make it a challenging and significant experience for the child , they will learn only positive lessons from it. They have the responsibility of the care of the book, and getting it back on time. If it is late, they have to pay the fee out of their own allowance.

If a certain country interests your child, then encourage them to learn about it. You could explain how to make traveling arrangements and the different accommodations offered to the destination. Use the internet to show them the many sites to compare pricing on. No, I am not suggesting that you teach your 8 year old how to book a flight to Vienna.

Something I have always found interesting is what you are allowed to take with you to another country. Like food, for instance. You can take unopened products only nowadays. The last time I looked into this, I would be allowed $30 worth of food for my own use. So I think it would be fun to see what a child would list as his own private food budget.

This is my feeling on some of today’s advertising when looking at it with children in mind. I feel it is very important to teach our little bunnies the correct concepts of advertising and money, and explaining what advertising really is. After all, they are tomorrow’s consumers.

So what I am pointing out are the most simple and always available things you can use to spend time with your child and teach them valuable lessons. That is your responsibility, after all. Don’t you agree?