comparing piles

We had a great Christmas day. The American child contingent who were with me were SURPRISINGLY well behaved considering the indulgence of the holiday.

All day long I have been asking Nick to send me a picture of the kids opening presents. Instead he sent this "before" picture. I couldn't help but notice how skimpy the pile looked under the tree. Don't get me wrong-- the kids got plenty and they got really nice stuff. But here's the pile for 14 people (9 children, 5 adults.)



Compare that with THIS pile (below) for 6 people in America (3 children and 3 adults.) And this wasn't even all the gifts!


Made me feel a bit like maybe I got sucked into the marketing machine that brainwashes us into thinking we want and need more... (Well, not maybe... definitely.)

But it is the tiniest consolation to me that my kids absolutely adore the presents they received. So that's something, right?

Merry Christmas.