Those tricky advertisers

This morning, as I was walking my 5-year-old daughter to school, she was busy trying to earn a point by being good to the Earth, i.e. picking up trash. Oh, and listening to her Winnie the Pooh music player. And fiddling with her belt - on her shorts - with no belt loops (can you spot the problem here?). And trying to walk the dog. Finally, she relinquished the leash to me, so she could focus on her other three tasks.

We've been working on some behavior modification, using a point system. If she yells, is disrespectful, doesn't listen, or behaves inappropriately, she can lose a privilege. These can include no playing with friends, no TV, taking a nap on the weekend, or going to bed early. She can choose the privilege lost, and then puts it on the wall.

The Wall of Shame, as we've been calling it
(not when she can hear). This can get sadly full...

This, admittedly, complex system allows all of us to keep track of what's going on, and gives us some consistency, something we were sorely lacking. In addition, she can earn privileges back or earn points toward a Special Privilege. She can do this by being a Super Helper, getting ready for school without a fuss, being a Cleaner, getting ready for bed without a fuss, earning a card for good behavior at school - or helping the Earth. Right now, her board is clean (no privileges taken away - Yay!), and she's working toward the Special Privilege of "Going to a movie with Mama and Daddy." She's got three points and needs two more.

But this wall can hold so much promise...

In case you were wondering what a "Pajama Walk" looked like.
Not pictured: me or Ross - for good reason.

So she decided to help the Earth on the way to school and look for trash to pick up. What with Halloween and all, we have a few more candy wrappers floating around our neighborhood than normal, and she spotted one. I could see her eying it wistfully. If only there was candy in the wrapper... I somehow restrained my automatic admonition that "We don't eat food off the ground." Because I'm easygoing like that. Ha!

After looking at it for a minute, she declared it "Healthy." Somewhat aghast, since I saw that it was a pack of Lemonheads, I asked why she thought that. "Because it has apples, oranges, and lemons in it! Which are all healthy!" she replied, sunnily. So I explained to her that those are only chemical flavors that taste like that. It killed me to see her little innocent face fall, confused. "But that sounds like they're trying to be tricky."

Which was not the word I was expecting her to use. I expected her to use the word Lying. Because my husband and I are always being accused of Lying, with a Capital L. If she gets engrossed in a TV show, when we'd promised her she could watch a movie, but then there was no more time before bed? "You're a Liar!" I feel like I'm in a joint session of Congress, trapped with a vociferous Joe Wilson.

But apparently, advertising agencies get a reprieve, and are only called tricky. "Why are they trying to be tricky?" A perfect question from a 5-year-old. Why, oh why, would someone try to be tricky? So I launch into an explanation of the inner workings of capitalism and a free market economy. Just joking! There's no way I could explain that. Instead, I just say that they want her to spend her money on something they created, even if it's not good for her.

And mercifully, we were at school. End of conversation. I would have hated to have to explain to her that big companies don't really care about a 5-year-old little girl or her health. Even thinking about it makes me want to cry. That would be a real downer before school started.

But I know that this is just the beginning of a long discussion.

How do you talk to your kids about making healthy choices?