Day 13 of Daily Footprint Project. I am amazed at the change. The desire to shop has totally left me.
What has not stopped, is the need to nurture my children. My daughter is sixteen. And I still want to indulge her with sweetness, once in a while. She resists, she pushes me away, she is an independent soul who wants to fly away from the nest. ‘I’ve got a life’ is one of her favorite phrases . Other than making food for her, one of the few concrete ways, that I can still give to her, is to go shopping with her.
Today, was the Green Festival in San Francisco. May she come with me, and bring some of her friends along, to go look for a party dress, she wondered? Four girls and I all got into the Prius, and off we were. I, to my green event, they, to the downtown mall. She called to ask me, should she get the $140 dress or the $240 one. The most expensive one was the right color, but then she wondered, that was a lot of money. I met her and her friends, back at the mall. Happy, with their hands full of shopping bags. I was happy too. Four teenage girls, giggling away, marveling at their purchases, and entertaining me with their small talk on the way back in the car. It had been a while, since I had enjoyed such lightness.
Of course, I ask myself the question, could I find other ways to share moments with my daughter? and to give to her? I can hear the voices of some of my 100% green friends. You should . . . , you should . . . , each one with a different idea, a different version of how they were able to pull it off with their own children. Sweet moments with their sixteen year old that did not blemish their green conscience. I know, and I wish I could do the same. Right now, it is not so easy.
Daily Footprint Project Daily Log Day #13 Water personal: flush toilet 3 wash face 2 brush teeth 2 wash hands 4 shower 1 mom: rinse dishes communal: Electricity/gas personal: electric toothbrush 2 microwave tea 2’ microwave oatmeal 4’ laptop on half day mom: communal: lights cook crepes on stove Food personal: oatmeal with organic milk organic persimmons tea organic milk falafel wrap at Green Festival water in recyclable plastic cup dinner out at friends’ house mom: crepes gave money to the kids to get their own dinner communal: Waste personal: toilet paper mom: communal: 3 newspaper plastic wrappers Recycling personal: mom: two shopping bags from expedition paper magazines and flyers from Green Festival communal: 2 papers Transportation personal: mom: communal: drive to San Francisco 72 miles Non food shopping personal: mom: two dresses, made in? communal: flowers from Whole Foods for dinner host
La Marguerite 
shhh, green conscience, this is a moment to cherish and store in the book of memories.
4 girls, happy, 1 woman smiling lightly, in that mental energy field out there, precious.
I hope you enjoyed the Greenfestival in San Fran! My wife and I went last year here in Chicago and I can’t wait to go back. It was so refreshing to be there – not just to see all of the cool products, etc., but because you actually felt like you weren’t alone in your quest to be green.
My kids aren’t quite old enough to get to that phase of shopping. My daughter is pretty good about things – she’s rational and will be the saver. My son – who is only four – will spend every red cent he gets his hands on. I can already tell that. Hopefully its not too late.
Loving the daily footprint!
-Jason
http://www.screamtobegreen.com
Nadine,
You are right, there are moment for the green conscience, and others where it loses its place. Of course, I was not so much reflecting on a personal moment, as on the larger cultural context in which we live in.
Jason,
I have a lot to say about the Green Festival. Writing an article for Groovy Green as we speak . . .
Your observations about the inborn differences between your two children resonates with me. Kids are born wired differently, aren’t they! And we have less to do with the outcome, than we would like to think.
Today my daughter told me I was lazy for not wanting to wash her much needed pair of jeans ( her fav’s ) that she forgot to put in the laundry last week. Nope my dear I do laundry every other week now. I have to do everything in my power to not say what my mother said and tell her how ungrateful I think she is.
I also didn’t buy her a stitch of new clothing this fall w/ back to school – with 12 drawers and a closet full ( and yet they wear the same items over and over ) I said no to anything more.
For me I am trying to be equally as miserly, however my weight loss has had me make a few recent purchases. I should be rewarded for dropping 5 sizes. I so wanted to make do or alter, and did that with all my summer things but my winter things are more of a challenge.
I at least gave some oversized coats to the needy.
Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com
Karen,
Kudos to you! For both the saying no to daughter, and the weight loss. I can relate to the biting your tongue bit 🙂
the other part of it marguerite was that it just made me so darn mad – how dare she tell me I am lazy — I was fuming – steam coming out of me ears fuming, and yet I keep trying to remember how small and me – centric my world was when I was 16 and how dramatic everything was –
she’s an A student, sings in the madrigals, does radio and theatre – for fun they did a photo shoot today about her hair – it’s so sweet and harmless – how could I really be mad at that?
Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com