Can Elves Make Barbies?

Any parent of small kids who understand the concept of Santa and the great marketing techniques of retailers and manufacturers are really not on the same page. I hate the fine line of greed and childish excitement that surrounds Christmas. I love the joy and pure wonderment of what Santa is to kids, but Santa is not loaded...at least the Santa that visits our home.

Last year each of our kids got 5 gifts and their stockings. I am sure that we did not spend the same amount on each kid, but they are small and they understand how many gifts are there and not how much each of them cost. I tried to explain to Julia how many pennies were in a dime and she did not want to be bothered by that concept. Julia and Jimmy are both obsessed with the various catalogs and ads that are out right now. They both pour over them and rip them to shreds. They both point out things they want and Julia wants to add stuff to her "list." Most of the stuff they want is reasonable, but some stuff is not. Like the $200+ fake dog/fake pony. They are not going to get that stuff. Seriously? I really want to smack the marketing machine that is hauled out for Christmas! My kids are normally pretty good, but my sweet little girl has a case of the gimmes and i know where she got it...TV and print promotion.

My neighbor came up with a great idea and her kids have brought it to our kids. If you pick out something with 3 numbers - that is all that you will get from Santa...but if you pick out stuff that has 2 numbers, Santa can bring you other things too. Julia just told me this today as she was looking at the Target book that we got on Sunday. She told me this set of Barbies in the ad (that my sister has already purchased for her) has only 2 numbers...followed by the question..."Can Elves make Barbies?" I answered yes, because the small Chinese people who are making them probably look like Elves to my 4 year old.