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RE: Daily Discussion No. 2: "Black Friday" and Holiday Shopping - Too Much Emphasis on Consuming Rather than Connecting?
I try not to 'buy' any xmas presents for anybody anymore. It's all about the consumerism now and it's really disgusting to see people so consumed by it.
My worry is people getting presents for my kid. How do you stop other people from giving him useless pieces of plastic that he doesn't need? Then because they keep showering him with useless things, he's learning that that is the normal thing to do and the big corporations will suck him in with the rest of them. Unless I put a great deal of effort to reverse the brainwashing. Of course, I'll put in the work, but it would be a whole lot easier if it could just be avoided altogether.
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.