Christmas Past

Christmas shopping has changed drastically since I was a child. I've noticed that the stores just aren't as crowded as they used to be in December, even the last shopping day before Christmas and the day after. In my youth, the stores were crammed with people doing last minute shopping or buying up bargains.

I've thought the shortage of customers was mainly because the economy isn't doing well and many people are out of work but I'm starting to change my opinion.

When I was a little girl we got fruit and nuts in our stockings and were very lucky to receive one present under the tree. For girls it was usually a doll and for boys a truck or sled. Sexist, yes, but also frugal.

When my own children were growing up we bought them each a few presents (that we couldn't afford) but never anything extravagant. Today I see parents buying their little treasures things like computers and their own T.V.

Somehow the idea of a token gift under the tree has become a demand for extravagance which has more than emptied the parents' pockets. Too many children would be terribly disappointed without a ton of presents or at least one magnificent one. Thus, the empty stores in December. I think many parents opted for the one fantastic (and expensive) gift to satisfy their child's expectations.

It's not the child's fault that they've come to expect the world under their Christmas tree, it's the flaw in our psyche that allows us to be swayed by psychologically strategic ads on T.V. The child assumes he/she deserves everything they see and the parents think they'd be bad parents if they didn't provide it.

It's possible that the families who have lost jobs and homes have finally come to their senses and accepted that family love and the spirit of Christmas is not represented by the number and cost of presents they buy. I hope so.