The New Living Large Is Living Small
We’re a society of consumers, though some of us are starting to question that mentality.
Here’s what I told my kids right before Christmas the first year they were old enough to understand. We were standing in front of a department store, and I said, “See that store? There is nothing in that building that I want, and certainly nothing I need. Please do not go in there and buy me a Christmas present. I would love a present, but I would far prefer something that you made, maybe with your hands, like a painting, or with your mind, like a poem.”
In today’s society, hand-made is special and great if you want to express your mind.
Craig,
Thank you for sharing an insight into your parenting values. Although I appreciate your anti-consumer/materialist sentiments and certainly respect your choices, I also thought of these issues when becoming a parent.
The concern I had was the issue of restricting someones choice of present by imposing my own values on the process. The choice of a present should reflect the child’s own choice and planning. IMHO children should learn from the planning and expense involved in giving presents the appropriateness, sacrifice and generosity they feel. The nature of the present should also reflect the thought the child put into an appreciation of the interests and needs of others.
It’s also an occasion to teach social expectations and conventions.
Present giving can also teach children the value of the complexity of society and value of material possessions. I believe those lessons are important as not only equipping the child for future life, but allowing the child to develop the art of present giving based on the child’s own experiences and assessment.
In the end, I guess we are all individuals and like many aspects of life there are no ‘rights’ or ‘wrongs’ just individual preferences.