<---- [well, we have colourful money at any rate... let's just ignore the fact that christmas spending tends to be more "fantastic plastic" than handing over the cold hard cash..]

This is the next instalment (of several brewing!) on Why I think Christmas is Crazy.

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So today I finally got into the shops in order to spend money just for the hell of it. Because I SHOULD. Because I am supposed to. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty good at parting with the old cashola, AND I love to buy my family things. My gripe is that every year at this time I feel railroaded into a buying frenzy for a time frame that just doesn't work for me. I am much more the spontaneous present purchaser, and if I've found something just right for someone, I don't see the point of hoarding it till Christmas - not when they could be using, or enjoying it, in the meantime.

This year it just feels even more wrong, and I am verging on the melancholy about it.

Today I wandered determinedly (if that's possible to do) around the shops (specifically on behalf of Santa) trying to find this and that for the girls, and so as to obtain enough items that, wrapped, will look like Santa has 'rewarded' them for being good girls all year...??

Each year the whole scenario just strikes me as more and more ridiculous - and not only because of the extreme variation between families in what "Santa" leaves the kids.

It would help if the youngest wasn't so.. "young".. if you get my drift. For once her sisters have no incentive to wish her "older" and on a par with them in the way she is treated. Never mind that they think she should be matching them in other family and personal tasks expected of them. They know all too well what happens in other families once the youngest is "old enough", and they are not going to do a thing to hasten that (Christmas) day. (I could have sworn they'd figured it out before they were 9!!)

Most years they get some clothes - but it is getting harder and harder to buy garments of their choice (that will fit them) - and I always feel kind of bad about doing that anyway. If it's something they really need (like new pjs) then why wouldn't I buy it for them anyway. And if it's stuff they don't need - then do they need it anyway?

Most years they get books - but again, it is harder and harder to keep up with what they would like.

Most years they get a dvd each - but more often than not they don't get round to watching it! (Santa seems to bomb out quite frequently on choice.)

More often than not I will be on a roll with finding the 'right' stuff for one of them - and so then it is a matching game of finding equitable goodies for the other two.

Most years I like to find at least one 'Wow, this is so cool!' present, but even that is a hard one this time round. Not one for each of them. I'm devoid of inspiration!

Their rooms and the playroom are full of STUFF - to the point that I don't think we need more STUFF in the house. Lots of that STUFF is STUFF that they've been given in the past, and never used or played with. (Not necessarily by me, or Santa... the innocent birthday party is also to blame for filling our house with unwanted junk!) Yes, yes, we should have had a clean out, but again, there is something inherently dodgy about the idea of throwing out crap just to make room for more crap.

Naturally, today, I found a few perfect things, mostly for just one of them. The challenge now is to come up with a similar amount and type of things for the other two.

There's got to be an easier way !!