My parents are totally outdoing us on the dedication-to-mass-consumerism version of Christmas.

Example 1: Last week, my mother asked me what sorts of things Huckle would like for Christmas. I told her he likes dollhouse style things, like barns and castles and stuff. The next day, she showed up with a castle, pirate ship, dragon, and a small cavalcade of knights on horseback.

Example 2: The day of the above phone conversation, I took Huckle to the store with the intent of walking him down the toy aisles and seeing what he liked. We don't usually take him to the store, things just show up here, and he doesn't pay attention to television commercials, so we had no clue. After saying "no, not today" for the fiftieth time, I decided my foolproof plan was pretty stupid. Basically, he wants everything, and I'm the big schmuck. I didn't even buy him Moon Sand.

Example 3: Yesterday, my mom read about some of the "hot toys" this year, and decided that her grandchild must have one, specificallly a plush rocker pony named Lucky. Mom and Dad went from T0ysRus to Targe7 to Targe7 to Wa1mart in search of Lucky. At the last store, they were directed from the toy aisle to the produce section (dunno, have no clue). When they got to the fruits and veggies, they looked around, and another woman asked them if they were looking for Lucky, too. While wandering, my dad spotted the last Lucky on top of the lettuce watering cabinet thingy. My mom boosted him the four feet it took to reach the box, he pulled it down (without breaking any bones, I might add), they threw it in the cart and hustled toward the checkout. Just as they deposited Lucky in their cart, the other woman came round to the lettuce section with a store employee and a ladder. Mom and Dad hauled it out of there, trying not to make eye contact.

Example 4: We haven't bought him a single thing.