So this is Christmas

Yes, yes, yes….we all know that December is well & truly here and, although we have been bombarded with Christmas themes for well over a month, it is now getting serious -  only two weeks till Christmas Day, with promoting, selling  and buying reaching a fever pitch!

Sometimes you just have to be brave enough – or desperate enough – to visit to a large shopping complex and be confronted with the horrendous scene that greets you:
Different (& appalling) music blasting forth from each shop, flustered women (yes, mainly women), a few grumpy men, excited and squabbling kids, with trolleys laden with crappy stuff – no doubt destined to be part of the escalating land-fill awfulness by mid next year.

So, this is Christmas (so someone once said - and sang).

And here is what’s being said in the newspaper about children this Christmas:
“RMIT marketing expert Con Stavros suspects pester power is worse at this time of year. But he says parents may also welcome it.”
WHAT? Parents WELCOME their kids pestering them about presents?

It gets worse:
"I often think parents feel uncomfortable not knowing what to buy for their children,"
Parents ‘FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE’ not knowing what to buy?
What parents are so unfamiliar with their own kids that they have no idea what to buy them for a Christmas gift and thus 'FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE’?

Okay, okay, so some parents are unaware of the preferences of their own children. That may be true. Seems strange, but it may be true.

And, yes, I do remember a Christmas eons ago, when, as a small child, I received a gift that wasn’t quite what I had been hoping for. Perhaps some disappointment popped into my psyche and perhaps lingered for a day. But, from a long distance of time, I realise that it was not an earth-shattering experience and was more likely to have been part of good life education. As in:
it’s never a good learning experience to always get exactly what you want.

Back to the expert:
"Finding a gift that has some meaning, has some impact, can be challenging."
Challenging? Intelligence, anyone? How challenging can it be to find an appropriate gift for your own kid/s? And how much of an ‘impact’ and ‘meaning’ does a gift have to have?

If you really don’t know what activity your kids enjoy, ask them! But, oh, that’s right – they’re already ‘pestering’!

But, please don’t forget that it’s also bloody important for them to understand if their wish list is out of your range as far as spending ability goes.

Yet another first world problem methinks!

WWJD?