Everyone has seen the Game of Thrones memes. Brace yourselves, (insert something here) is coming. Well,,,,, Brace yourselves, toy catalogs are coming. It’s that magical time of year that leads up to Christmas. The time of year where we spend two whole months shopping so on Christmas morning we can all stand around and sanctimoniously say, “Remember the reason for the season……… Now rip open those gifts.”
Wow, that sounded grumpy. Sorry. I love Christmas. I love capitalism. I love watching my kids open gifts. But if I have to find a place to put one more toy that gets played with one time a year, I swear I’m going to build a giant slingshot and see how far I can launch everything into the Delaware River. Extra points if I can hit a tug boat.
We started Christmas shopping in earnest last night. The start of our shopping this year coincides with a major purge of stuff from the house. The result of the merging of these two things? My kids are getting nothing useless for Christmas. Boundaries have been set. Each gift must fall into one or more of four criteria.
- It’s educational.
- It’s a book.
- It’s something that enables you to have an experience.
- LEGOS
Legos are a category on their own. Expensive, yes. But they’re creative, and if we ever have a Home Alone situation, I’m sure the kids will find some way to use them that will severely injure Joe Pesci and his sidekick.
Throughout life, we accumulate things. One day we all stop, look around, and say, “There is a whole room of my house that I don’t use because it’s full of,,,,,,,,, I’m not sure what it’s full of.” At my home I try to walk into that room to sort through things, and I step on a Lego. Down I go covered in an avalanche of lonely stuffed animals, matchbox cars, and a fully functioning light up Batmobile. While I wait for my wife to come and dig me out I have plenty of time to think, because she finds it hilarious that I am buried in stuff that she’s been wanting to get rid of. She’s going to leave me there for a while. I come to the conclusion that instead of having rooms full of stuff, I’d rather have a head full of memories from awesome experiences.
Stuff ends up owning us. It all depreciates in value. (Sorry guys, all those Lord of the Rings figurines aren’t worth what you think they are.) Experiences always appreciate. Knowledge always appreciates. They help us grow as people and they expand our world.
This holiday season, I’m going to try to start teaching my kids this lesson, so when they get older, they’ll know the value of experiences and memories vs things. That’s the best Christmas gift I can give them. That,,,,, and a true recognition of the Reason for the Season.
LINKS
- Some people you just can’t please. Here are the funniest Tripadvisor complaints about National Parks.
- This houseboat looks like my future home.
- On this day in 1950, USAF Lt. Russell Brown became the first pilot to shoot down another plane in a jet aircraft vs. jet aircraft dogfight.
- Interesting article about how having Howard Stern as a dad affected one of his daughters.
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