I stood in line to pay $60 for the “hottest toy of the season”, Elmo Live.\u00a0 I also went in search of the best price on a Playstation Portatble (PSP).\u00a0 Then I bought the games, memory card and every other damn thing the sales kid told me I had to buy for it to work.\u00a0 I argued for an item in a toy store…and won.\u00a0 The smile on my face was quickly replaced with a blank stare as I realized my own mediocrity.<\/p>\n
Some ultra-wealthy parents buy their kids cars, apartments, ponies or spa memberships.\u00a0 And lots of ultra-granola parents buy their kids a tree to plant and a card memorializing the contribution made towards saving a gorilla in their name.\u00a0 Not me.\u00a0 I go straight for whatever I’m sold by the capitalist marketing machine.\u00a0 Stir the economy stupid.\u00a0 However there is one big difference in how I operated this year compared to the majority of American consumers: I paid cash.\u00a0 There will not be one credit card debt in our household as a result of this holiday season.<\/p>\n
So what if I bought my child portable attention deficit disorder (see PSP) when he didn’t even ask for it.\u00a0 I know he will wear the paint off the buttons.\u00a0 And if Logan only laughs at Elmo singing and dancing for 15 minutes well, that’s what I paid for.\u00a0 And don’t get me started on what I spent on Amy.\u00a0 She’s getting less gifts and for more money than either of the kids.\u00a0 If it wasn’t made by a brand name designer or personalized she isn’t getting it.<\/p>\n
Ya I’m a mediocre consumer drone and I don’t care.\u00a0 I give the gifts people want without pretending that I’m giving them something they need and won’t give a damn about.\u00a0 Christmas is about want, not need.\u00a0 Don’t ask me what I “need”.\u00a0 I’ll buy what I need.\u00a0 You get me what I can’t or won’t buy for myself (my dad is pretty good about following this rule).\u00a0 That’s the real spirit of Christmas, like it or not.\u00a0 That is unless you are the purist of Christian and genuinely celebrate the season based on it’s original intent.\u00a0 I don’t know too many of those people anymore.\u00a0 That is, I really don’t know anyone who would display the same “spirit” of Christmas without giving or receiving gifts.\u00a0 Do you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I stood in line to pay $60 for the “hottest toy of the season”, Elmo Live.\u00a0 I also went in search of the best price on a Playstation Portatble (PSP).\u00a0 Then I bought the games, memory card and every other damn thing the sales kid told me I had to buy for it to work.\u00a0 … Continue reading I have entered the stereotypical, statistical parenting phase of my life.<\/span>