I like to say, 'I am broke' (usually accompanied with a turning out of dust-filled pockets: just as well they don't understand credit yet!)
Sometimes I say, 'sweets won't make you happy [child starts blubbing] Look! you are crying already.'
I often say that the shop is just trying to get your money from you, to make themselves rich by tricking you.
It is useful to pour scorn on the most mindless toys, especially the most expensive, electronic ones, and talk up the enriching power of books - you can take advantage of children's gullibility, too. After all, most requests for purchases are only demands for symbols of affection. You can withhold the affection by letting them know that you think the gift is unworthy.
When they cry for their mother, I say, she is at work, earning the money to pay for your GoGos, Polly Pockets and Cheerios (I don't add 'and my beer')
Dennis wrote: "This makes me want to ask if people have ideas or methods about how to temper kids becoming little shopping drones. I don't want to rely on things like "get a job" or "you don't know the value of a dollar" but I do find those tapes running through my head before I reject them. But so far I'm pretty ad-hoc about it. It's hard because you don't want to be a grinch but I think as a parent you have to counter the marketing behemoth somehow."