In spite of a recession, the business of marketing “things” to our kids continues its fever pitch and parents, including myself, are constantly outgunned and outnumbered when it comes to the battle for our children’s brains. Our children are constantly told, via the 24/7/365, 360-degree, Manhattan Project style marketing lobby, that “if only they had X, they would be happy.”

So how do we fight the efforts to seed our children with rampant consumerism? How do we fight the Trojan Horse tactics to imprint branding and licensed characters in our children’s hearts and minds? How do we put the squeeze on SpongeBob, Hello Kitty, and the Transformers?

Limit television time

Most experts agree that children under the age of two shouldn’t view any television and those older should only view the tube for two hours daily – MAX. The trouble is, too many parents let the television babysit their children and even put TV’s in the kid’s rooms. Studies verify that kids between the ages of one and fourteen, without TV’s in their rooms, have lower rates of obesity, score higher on standardized tests, and sleep better.

Mute the commercials

In an effort to further limit the force-feeding of consumerism, mute the commercials when you’re watching TV with your kids. Encourage their creativity by letting them create their own scripts for what the actors are doing.