cross-posted to Women Make News

Who can persuade you than your kids? Pleeease, mom……

What makes you change more than thoughts of your kids’ wellbeing? Swapping a balcony for a yard, buckling up for short trips, tossing a drawerful of sippy cups laced with BPA?

Drawing on this instinct to please our children and do what’s best for them, the new campaign Green My Parents, uses kids to persuade their planet-guzzling adults to change their ways. It’s such a brilliant idea: families get educated about environmental issues and challenged to make changes that make a difference. Not only that kids are encouraged to grade their parents’ and learn how to save money for their family—cleverly motivated by a promise to pocket the savings! What better incentives could their be for a kid than being listened to, getting power in the family plus a little money on the side.

It makes perfect sense to recruit children to make changes in the world they are going to inherit when they’re older—and the one they are living in right this minute with their grownups.

For years, Mothers and other women have lobbied for better maternity leave, sick leave, pay equity, flexible work, day care, after-school care—with little success.

What do kids think about all this? Do they understand the situation and challenges of mothers today? Have you told them how just having children impacted your earning power—and eventual retirement income? Do they know how you worry about getting them taken care of on their sick days and your work days?

I don’t imagine most of us would; experts say not to make kids our confidantes. Plus that might make them feel really guilt just for being born. School aged children have a deep sense of justice; they’re often keen to save mistreated animals or go vegan—surely that empathy extends to their maternal figure.

What if kids--who’d be most affected by the changes the motherhood movement seeks—helped lobby for the change they also need? Wouldn’t politicians be more moved by children? Most human beings, even elected ones, have soft spots for the young—it’s biology.

Imagine children giving testimony to Congressional Committees about how their lives are impacted by their mothers’ realities. Can you picture a school age child stretching out her neck so she could reach the microphone on the table facing a bunch of graying senators. It would be quite moving to have the little ones plead the case.

I wish my mom would let me stay home when I’m sick, but she needs to go to work, so I have to go to school—no matter how bad I feel.

I’m sad there’s nothing more to do after school than just watch TV with my little brother.

I don’t think it’s fair my mom doesn’t make as much money as some of the guys at her company.

Why can't she just write her briefs at home while I do my homework?

Children fundraise for walks to benefit disease, I’ve seen them help leaflet in political campaigns, they sell cookies, so why not this?

Maybe I’ve seen too many G-rated movies where the kid saves the day, but somehow I believe they could help.

I’m pretty sure, if we told our children what we wished for, they’d try to give us the moon—even just a crayoned one.

And they'd help.  Mommy's little secret--weapon.