Was it a Simpler Time?

I've been reading in the news and listening to people talk about how simple the Christmas holidays were in the past.  No worries, just gifts and dinner with the family.  A wide-eyed optimism is what they remember, not the hustle and bustle of the shopping for big ticket items or fighting the crowd for the latest toy craze.

If you think about it for a moment, that simpler time was when you were a kid.  What kid is involved in the frenzy?  Not one that I can think of.  For most of us, when you're a kid the world is a pretty small place.  You go from home to school, to an activity and home again.  Are most kids thinking of how to provide for the family?  No.  Is a kid responsible for shopping for the big gift?  No.  Maybe a kid makes cookies with the family or the mom, maybe he or she shops for the little gifts they give and help decorate the tree.  I think most kids are quite oblivious to the whole craziness that their parents are having trying to make the holiday happen. 

As a child, did you really know what was going on in your parent's lives?  Some families make do, some do without.  Some do a bang-up blowout, each depending on their own situation.  Kids grow up and remember the time being simpler.  Well, I think it's because you just didn't know any better.  You're a kid and that's how it's supposed to be if the parents do it right.  Later on you grow up and lament having to do the running, shopping, cooking, cleaning, decorating, wrapping, and worry about paying for all of it.  Suddenly, the times way back when seemed simpler. 

Yeah, it was simpler because you didn't have to do all of the work, you were a kid!  Get it?