Christmas guilt already

So the newspaper announced today that this is going to be the toy this Christmas. And since I have a youngin' who has just entered the stage of Elmo love (for those of you without kids, that's approximately 16 months-2 1/2 years), and since I just happened to have to go to Target this morning, I thought I'd pick one up and stash him until Christmas (the toy, not my child).

I arrived at Target at 10 a.m. and was pleased to see that they had 15 or so of the little fellas on the shelf.

So I picked up two.

I thought, well you know, I might as well get two and then sell one later on Ebay. Surely someone will want it and be willing to pay for it. I can easily benefit from being here early and I can prosper from that.

And then I wandered around the aisles of Target for the next twenty minutes feeling like a schmuck. I just felt dirty. I tried calling my conscience for her opinion. But she is several time zones away in Denmark and was out having family fun, and so I was left to wrestle with my own thoughts.

It hit me in the Greeting Card Aisle. As much as I wanted to rationalize that I would just be helping someone fulfill a child's wish at Christmas, I was really just trying to make a buck off Christmas. And that certainly isn't the Christmas spirit I'm trying to have in my life. (Nevermind that at the end of Septmber I'm not ready to admit even thinking about quote unquote Christmas spirit).

So I took the second box back. And when I got to the back shelf there wasn't one other TMX left. By 10:45 they were all gone. So I put my extra on the shelf and walked away.

And while I'd like to feel all good about my decision...I'm bummed that when I realized the box I had kept was crushed a bit and I tried to go and swap it, the other one was gone too. So now I feel like an even bigger schmuck for caring about such things as whether or not a box was dented.

So in the end...I've been humbled by Elmo. I know my little guys will get a kick out of it on Christmas morning and I'm glad I won't be fighting crowds to find one, but I have to admit mixed feelings on the whole matter.

What does it say about me and our society at large that within 45 minutes the big Christmas toy is gone three months before Christmas? And why did I care so much about a dented box? Even putting the second toy back, I still feel the need to do something good for the world to make up for even thinking about trying to make a buck off the silly thing.

Sheesh. Talk about good old fashioned guilt.

The upside of it all....did you watch the video link at the top of the page? Its hilarious. I'm looking forward to seeing the giggle fits from Elmo around our house. Maybe I'll break it out before Christmas and we can all just enjoy the silliness of it all.

Sooooo ladies and gents....this concludes today's lesson on learning *and relearning* the meaning of Christmas. Class dismissed.