I still try to respect and understand "gift giving for kids" around the holidays, but you're exactly right about the message it sends when you shower your kids (or ANY kid) with a huge pile of "things." I'm still reminded of the popular bumper sticker: "The best things in life are not THINGS" that I occasionally see.

But as you say, it can be a challenge. We can teach our own (currently it's our grandchildren we're trying to teach) as much as possible... but they still interact with their friends at school, so there are lots of questions to be answered.