An odd thing happened this year at Christmas – my son didn’t play with any of his presents. He unwrapped them and seemed to be happy but a week later they were still sitting in a pile next to the Christmas tree – unopened.

What does that mean? Am I a lousy gift giver? Are my kids spoiled brats? Do I not know my own children?

To be fair, they didn’t ask for anything this year. Usually there are some clues for things that he and his sister are interested in but this year I had no idea. I actually struggled over what to buy them. I was looking up top ten presents lists online. I even asked some friends what they were giving their children for Christmas in hopes of some sort of inspiration.

Why is it so important to get the right present? Isn’t it the thought that counts? It’s almost as if it’s more important to me than it is to them. Why do I put this pressure on myself? They, literally, don’t care what they get and they’ll love me just as much. Why am I trying so hard to buy them things that they don’t even want.

You know, it’s not like when I was little and birthdays, Christmas and the start of the school year were the only times we’d get anything new. Now, it seems that the kids get stuff all the time. Some of it is built in like new sports gear and sneakers for team sports or new school supplies 10 times a year but other times it’s just something my wife or I grab while on a business trip or just something for the sake of buying something. It seems not a week goes by where the kids don’t get something new.

I’ve become the king of buying stuff because it’s a great deal. I’ll buy something I don’t even need if it’s a good deal. Sometimes it’ll come in handy at a later date and I feel like I was prepared because I already had what was needed but that’s only 4-5% of the time. Most of the stuff just piles up and takes more space.

We had a yard sale a few months back and at least 20% of the things we sold still had the tags on them, never used. I had good intentions for that chin-up bar when I bought it and it was a good deal but not as good a deal as the guy who bought it at my yard sale got. Wonder if he’s gonna use it or maybe he’ll sell it to someone else for even less money and the cycle continues.

It seems that stuff is so much easier to get these days. You can shop online and it’ll be at your house in two days! What? That’s crazy. Yes, and the shipping is free!!! Insane!!! Amazon Prime has become my latest weakness.

Then you’ve got ebay, Letgo and Craigslist where you can buy other peoples barely used crap. I’ve found some great deals on Craigslist. I’ve also found a ton of stuff that I’ve barely used and will probably, someday, post back on Craigslist for the next sucker to buy. Who am I kidding, I’m never going to list it online.

Am I falling into a life of excessive consumerism? Is there a void in my life that I need to fill with unnecessary crap? If I look in my closet, the answer would be yes. If I look into my man cave, the answer would be yes. Man cave? That didn’t even exist when I was a kid. Well, where else are you going to display all your sports memorabilia? Ah, more stuff that really has no reason to be in my possession.

Why do I need all this junk? So much so that I force unnecessary junk onto my children. Maybe I’m making up for all the things I never had when I was young. Maybe I don’t want them to ever feel the sting of not having something everyone else has. Kids can be cruel and those scars last forever. It looks as if I’m still compensating for them.

I had a talk with my wife about this and we’ve decided to make an effort not to buy our kids stuff all the time. That sounds weird doesn’t it? I don’t want to turn them into monster-like consumers. I don’t want them to buy things just to make themselves feel better for a little while. I don’t want them to be like me in that way.

Why would they be happy about Christmas if every day of the year is like Christmas?