The Gratitude Thief

I was discussing Christmas traditions with a group of people,
and someone made this interesting observation regarding
children's gifts:

"No matter what it is, the first gift is always the best."

We thought about that for a few seconds and then agreed,
since it seemed to fit each person's personal recollections.

In sixteen years of children, we've had just one Christmas
where, everyone agreed, there were just too many presents.
(I blame the grandparents...)

Since then, we've let the grandparents do the heavy lifting
with gifts, since they seem to enjoy it.  We've contented
ourselves with supplying the "Santa gift", complete with
a note from Santa.

If the children ever noticed there's no gift from Mom and Dad,
they've never said anything.

Which brings me back to the idea that the first gift is the best.
Why is that?
I wonder if it's because the gratitude-tank is full at the beginning
of the gift-opening...and gradually empties as the gifts keep coming.

(If you've ever been to a marathon bridal or baby shower,
you've seen this in action.  The squeals of delight start to take
on a rather forced quality about fifteen minutes in.)

And that means, The Gratitude Thief just might be:

Stuff

Stuff that needs thank you notes, display/storage space
and cleaning or maintenance, if and when it's used.

Obviously, some stuff contributes to quality of life:
I loathe steaming the family-room carpet, but I'm
grateful that we have a steamer so we can do the job
ourselves (less grateful for the carpet...shoulda gone
with tile).

But the twelve these-are-too-large-but-we-need-a-set-
of-plain-ones wine glasses?
They finally went to consignment.
(I'm grateful for that!)

Because the children are well aware of my ongoing
thinning-the-herd mindset, I hope I'm also modeling
for them the value of quality over quantity, with room
for sentimental keepsakes...

...to keep the Gratitude Thief and his overflowing
bag of stuff out of their lives.