My 4-year-old daughter Cross already has a better idea of the energy we should put into Christmas gifts than either of her parents combined.
Reliving childhood holiday memories through the gifts you buy your kid is a guilty parenting pleasure. Yes, you buy the latest, most popular toys; yes, you stay up all night putting those toys together; and yes, you play with them as much as your child does, or maybe more. A guiltier pleasure is attempting to go above and beyond anything your parents may have done for you. In my case, that's an even more ridiculous project — I always felt fortunate enough to get everything I needed in my childhood Christmases — but here we are.
