[Margaret Pilkington]

No, I don't think that is quite right.....about Christmas not being as good because we have to pay for it.
I think that as parents we give the wrong message to our children.....we raise their expectations too high. We let them believe that the more gifts they get, the better Christmas it will be......and I think we sometimes try to outdo the gifts given by other people.
When we were children(yes it was a long time ago) we knew our parents had not got a lot of money. It wasn't the thing in those days to buy things on credit.....in fact you couldn't do it easily. We did not expect a lot.....and were pleased with sweets, nuts, a tangerine wrapped in foil, a new coin and my favourite present was a large tin box of watercolour paints.
That is the difference. Children expect....their expectations fired by all the adverts on TV......and parents feel they have let their child down if they do not come up with the goods.