Green Souls, Red Soles and Facebook

This world of ours is changing—globally, right here in Naples and in my own home. As we work our way out of the recession, the environment has encouraged my family to reexamine our values to understand what really matters. We are stepping up to new challenges while maintaining our core beliefs.

As my parents did for me, I am passing down lasting life lessons to my two sons to know themselves, the world in which they live, human compassion and responsibility for their own happiness. My focus is on the importance of family and genuine friendships, although I admit I’ve also entered into the realm of the recessionista. While my sons embrace the greening of the planet, I still have a weakness for those red soles of Christian Louboutins—but with the red, on-sale dot on the sole, noticeable when I kneel at communion.  

As I teach my sons, they are determined to teach their mom that beyond recycling, we need to be more environmentally friendly and make healthy life choices. They are embarrassed that I drive a non-hybrid SUV. They have instructed me to park in less visible places when visiting more eco-friendly families. I remind them that with all their school books, sports gear and friends, we sometimes have to drive two SUVs to accommodate their lifestyle.

Recently, while picking up my younger son from school, he noticed that I had a new leather handbag. “Mom, I feel uncomfortable about animals being sacrificed for fashion.” I replied, “This might just be the leather from the cow that was used to make your Five Guys burger yesterday.” “Touché,” he said. Truly, this generation of teens is not consumed with materialism, but rather keeping our planet alive—on their terms.

There are lapses in their global green consciousness as they scatter video games, pizza boxes and plastic sports drinks about the room. My sons’ emphasis on an “all-green, cardboard-box funeral” is all but forgotten as they leave electronic screens lit up all night by Facebook pages, Kindles, TV shows and iPhones. With a smile, knowing that I, too, can have a lapse for those coveted red-soled shoes, I schlep the “taboo” heavy-duty black plastic trash bag, gathering their non-recyclables.

I consider myself to be a mom who is “with it,” but I was reluctant to allow my sons to use Facebook. It was just too much of an invasion of one’s privacy.

I have since come to understand the Facebook phenomenon while preparing to attend my college reunion at Ole Miss. I always thought my reunion would be exciting, catching up on years gone by. To reconnect with old friends, I began e-mailing them. From the first few responses, I realized they have very outdated knowledge about me.

Did I really want to spend the entire reunion explaining the evolution of my life? With the reassurance of my sons and privacy settings, I fast-tracked my current life to my friends on Facebook. Within 48 hours, I reconnected with more than 100 people. Very cool!

Today’s teens are more savvy than ever. Many care deeply about the threats facing our environment and are committed to making a difference, not only in the world, but in bringing their parents’ generation up to speed. Life’s lessons are not flawless—for them or me—but I am enjoying the learning curve together with my kids.