Once my kids hit a certain age; namely, the age at which they would start expecting me to buy them things every time we went to the store if I continued to do so, I quit buying them toys for no particular reason. I will treat them to a small item here and there -- a book, an accessory to go with something they already have, etc. But the "big stuff" (in my book anything over ten bucks constitutes "big") is saved for special occasions.

I think it's working out well, actually. For a kid who owns as much stuff as she does, Madalyn is remarkably unspoiled. She does not expect to get anything when we go to the store. We can browse the toy aisles with no problems. She might indicate that she wants a particular item but, when I say no, she is totally fine with that. She puts it back and goes on with her life -- and, 90% of the time, has forgotten about the item's existence fifteen minutes later and never brings it up again.

That said, though, there are two small snags in this way of doing things. The first snag is that I really, really enjoy buying toys for my kids. I love toys, period. And I love seeing my kids smiling and having fun. The second snag would be that there is an awfully long stretch of time between Christmas and Madalyn's birthday -- 10 months, to be exact. And that, to me, seems like a very long time to go without a single new toy. Thusly, I look for occasions for which I can get the kids a few new things. Easter provides a perfect opportunity.

It started Madalyn's first Easter when I stuffed her basket full of goodies. Back then she was into smaller items -- teethers, rattles, etc. But, as she grew, so did the size of the packaging of the toys she liked. And, also, I guess, so did my mania for gift-giving. This year it has reached the point where I am not even bothering with baskets. I bought what I wanted them to have and then I bought three rolls of spring-ish wrapping paper. And as soon as I'm done here I am off to wrap the Easter gifts.

So, um....hop hop hop and ho ho ho to everyone. Oh, and I think I'm okay this year, but if I start trying to hang stockings next time you'll probably need to do some kind of intervention or something. Just a heads up.