Yes, as evidenced by the last post, my 10 year old son did get a laptop computer for Christmas. Doesn't seem a very hippiemom kind of gift does it? Seems he should be opening yards of hemp cord and wooden beads along with a macrame instruction book, or at least some recycled tie dyed bed sheets. You know, I've never been very good at fitting into any one box. (I have found this generally confuses and often irritates people who don't know me well. My friends seems to accept it.) I'm not really sure if I am raising a super consumer future yuppie type or Mr. Greenearth. I just know that despite my moral sensibilities and best intentions I can't seem to stop the flow of stuff the kid accumulates (oh okay, it goes for me too).
So Hippiekid got a laptop. In my defense (or actually, The Boyfriend's defense, since he is the one that bought it) it is a refurbished one that was on special, was a really good buy and not as expensive as you might think. Plus we really are getting tired of sharing our computers with him! Now if that was his only gift it would still be a nice Christmas. Of course it was not his only gift! Sillies! He also got a digital camera, a webkinz, books, a couple of toys, a new computer game, a stocking full of stuff, several gift cards from relatives, and a piano from his grandmother (among a few other things). The next week on our out of state visit he received new dirt bike boots, pants and gloves, some new clothes and a few more toys.
I tell myself, and I told him, that this was an exceptional year. There will usually not be this many big ticket items. Although, in the past, he has received a computer for his room and a dirt bike (different years). I start out with good intentions, but then things just get out of hand. I seriously need to do my Christmas shopping the week before Christmas, because the longer I have the more I buy. Sometimes you just get such good buys! Thank you, Maggie, for your post, so I don't feel alone.
I swear when I was pregnant with Will I said to myself that I was not going to buy a lot of stuff. That he didn't need all that much. Of course Will's dad and I had a lot less expendable cash than I have now in my life with The Boyfriend (staying in the same job for the last 14 years rather than constantly moving around helps too). But, really I believed that, or at least I think I did at the time. I bought used clothes and toys. I tried to use moderation in everything. Then Will died and Hippiekid entered the picture and it was a whole new world. I just couldn't stop myself or anyone around us from over indulging him. I suppose there is a part of me that thinks, "Well, there really should be two of them, I'd be spending at least this much anyway, and having to find room for the trappings of two boys." Justification, it's a wonderful thing.
The best part of the whole thing though, is that he is always happy and appreciative. He has never once asked for any of the big ticket items he has received. The dirt bike year all he wanted was a red guitar. The year he got a PSP he asked for some specific Hot Wheel cars. This year his only request was a batting helmet for baseball season. Oh yeah, he got that too!
Maybe he will be better at keeping the consumerism at bay with his own kids.
Luckily, grandmas don't have to worry about shaping lives with their gift giving habits!