Doesn’t it feel like it’s becoming really trendy to have a “minimalist” Christmas, where you give your kids 4 presents? Around early November I’m ready to completely subscribe to this idea. My oldest son’s birthday is right at this time, so we always get an influx of new toys just before holiday gift planning begins.

Recently, I gave my 4-year-old the Target Christmas toy catalog and a pen, thinking he’d browse the pages, circling a handful of things he liked… Instead, he circled approximately 90% of the items and started saying: “I want this, and this, and this, and this….” Apparently this wasn’t such a good exercise…