CHILDREN: Just Say 'No' to Garfield

Stores have always put up Valentine's Day promotions as soon as the Christmas promotions come down. But now, it's the Garfield Valentines that come out as soon as the Garfield Christmas items are put away, and Muppet Valentines that replace Muppet Christmas gear. In case you miraculously escaped a Christmas tainted with Big Bird Stockings, Care Bear tree ornaments, and Smurf jammies, you can't relax yet, because your child will be bombarded with those same smiling faces on Valentine goodies as he was for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and back-to-school.

It doesn't stop at holidays either. Licensed tie-ins of TV and movie characters are emblazoned on everything a child needs. You can't buy toothpaste without insistent demands for Mickey Mouse toothpaste; you can't buy vitamins without confronting appeals for Flintstone vitamins. It starts with Cabbage Patch diapers, and moves through clothing, lunch boxes, sheets and even food. I couldn't even find a plain old "pin the tail on the donkey" for my daughter's birthday party; all the stores carried were "pin the tail on Garfield" and "pin the tail on Big Bird."

My daughter started asking for Care Bears at age two, and she let me know that any bear would not do. When I saw the price difference between the Care Bear and the generic bear, and projected it over her remaining life expectancy, I decided a strategy was in order. We would "just say no" to licensed characters. She would have to take the generics or nothing.

I've worked hard to make this strategy palatable. She can have the paper cups or sneakers with cute furry characters on them as long as they're not licensed characters. Instead of buying T-shirts and gift wrap plastered with familiar faces, we buy plain ones and decorate them ourselves. We think of or own names for our generic dolls and stuffed animals so they don't have to suffer anonymity for their lack of commercial sponsorship.

Now when my daughter chooses a birthday card for Grandma she knows she'll have to actually look at the cards; she can't get away with scanning for the first familiar character. She's starting to have some idea of trade-offs: that if we spend less money on X we can spend more on Y - or even spend fewer hours at work. I don't mean to suggest the job is done, because it isn't. She'd still rather buy the pumpkins and Easter eggs that come already decorated at the store, and she's thrilled when I occasionally let her pick an advertised brand of cookies. But I know that I am saving more than just money. I'm saving her ability to think.