Is Christmas just as special for kids as it used to be?
Sure we agree that as you get older, the magic of Christmas diminishes, especially when you realize that all those gifts will lighten the load of your pocketbook. I don't think it takes very long before we realize that Santa isn't going to be bringing any of us a new Acura or Lexus. But thinking back to your childhood, do your children get as excited about Christmas as you did?
After mulling over the reasons for this ambivalence, in our opinion, it comes down to the fact that today's kids are over-entertained, living in a world of near instant gratification. Back when we were kids, at least in our case, we primarily got new toys two times per year, and that was on our birthdays and at Christmas. We did not have the internet, cable TV, or iphones to entertain us. For those who did have a VCR, movies had to be rented, which meant trying to talk our parents into taking us to the video store (or gas station) and renting a movie. When we wanted to see what the newest toys were, we had to look through the Sears catalog (like this 1985 copy of Sears catalog). Phones had cables attached to them, microwaves had huge buttons, video recorders were gigantic, and when you went to Grandma's for the holiday, you did not see or talk to your friends again until school started back up.
We can't say we have any answers for you in regard to how to make Christmas more special for your children. As long as they understand the meaning behind "Christ Mass", then ultimately that is good enough for us. At the very least, perhaps we can conjure up some fond memories for you? You can start with our 80's Toy Museum...