Perhaps an unpopular view.

Let me preface this by saying that my daughter does not go without, whether that be related to life's necessities or a bunch of toys (read: junk that litters the house). She is very privileged and could probably stand to lose about half of that which is in her room; oftentimes we reflect that she probably has too much. I say all of this to say that I probably hold an unpopular view of how a 2 year old, or especially even younger, child should "experience" Christmas. I will acknowledge that Alexis has wants; she knows how to ask for things or if not, how to moan, jump, point, or do a "point and jump dance" - you know the one?? The thing is: I strongly feel that I am not a bad mother or depriving her of anything by not making a huge deal out of what great toys I can get her for Christmas. In fact, if I am being brutally truthful, I feel that there are some parents who make a huge production out of this more for the "show-off factor" than anything. A child would be overjoyed with a roll of bubble wrap, heck I'd be overjoyed with that-I love the stuff! Yes, my daughter does love gifts, she loves unwrapping them too. She will have some things for Christmas but seriously I am not going to break the bank or go crazy when she gets and has what she wants all year. One exception that I note is that should a child have older siblings, it would be rather difficult to shield the younger child b/c as children age they unfortunately are going to get "caught up" in the hype no matter how much you think you've taught them differently! I honestly don't think bad of parents that purchase things for their children, I know how fun it is to shop!!! I don't think *all* parents have a complex or do it to show off; however, I do challenge them to take a step back and think about the necessity and reasoning behind it all. I just don't think that you are a bad parent if you don't *go present shopping crazy* and this isn't me trying to 'make myself feel better' for how I feel...just for the record!