One of the things that is always tricky around the holidays (and I think especially with children) is the commercialization that is bound up in the season. While Christmas itself predates the onslaught of advertisements we experience through all forms of media now, there is no doubt that the season has been affected by marketing and money. One of the things that becomes difficult is the question of “how much?”. How much is too much? In terms of money or simply quantity (is the closet overflowing?) the question of how much is an important one.
Our son is not, by any means, buried in a mound of presents. Despite having what my wife and I consider to be (at least at the moment) “too many toys,” they all basically fit in a tiny laundry basket in a corner of his small room. How much is too much? Our son really enjoyed his presents this year. Lots of balls and a toy boat and toy truck. His grandmother sent him some books. His aunt sent him a bathtoy and a monkey towel. What was suprising, however, was that our son wasn’t really interested in each of the gifts individually. It’s not that he didn’t like them (or won’t once he notices them in the coming months), but more that his attention cannot effectively be split in so many different directions at the same time. He can’t play with the ball while reading a book about animals while taking a bath with a boat and driving a truck and drying off with a monkey towel. It is for these reasons that we opened the remainder of his presents today: he simply didn’t get to them yesterday. None of that even reveals how much he enjoyed playing with the tape and the wrapping paper that came off of the gifts themselves. The packing bubble-wrap and the boxes are also still favorites. How much is too much? It is a question we’ll be asking for years to come.