Stickers and STUFF

When I was little, I had a sticker book. It was my most prized possession.
Within the book, which was actually a photo album, were stickers that I'd earned over time.

I distinctly remember some of them: there were the scratch-n-sniff stickers that I'd earned when I didn't cry for a week of kindergarten (I was "that" kid - the one who cried every day). There was the sticker that I got when I toured the power plant where my father worked as a civil engineer. And who can forget that large sticker that I received at Disney World when we had breakfast with Mickey?! That took up almost half of a page of my sticker book. Such memories!

Back then, we worked to earn stickers. It took me a whole week of not crying to earn one sticker. Today, my kids get stickers by the dozen - daily. In fact, just yesterday we went to Trader Joes (automatic 5 stickers per child) and then the library (another one for finishing the scavenger hunt).

It's not just stickers that I'm overwhelmed with, it's STUFF. Literally each day we get more and more STUFF. Candy, little chachki items, stickers, coloring papers; you name it, my kids are getting it. It not only junks up my car and my house, but in my mind, it's devaluing their appreciation for just about anything! They are so programmed to getting something new each and every day - who can blame them? Heck, if I got something new each day, I'd be looking out for it and tiring of it quickly as well.

I don't really have a solution to all of this but more or less just wanted to voice my opinion to see if anyone else is on the same page with me. Am I the only one who is tired of the inordinate amount of items entering their household? Can we (retailers, businesses, friends and family) not slow down on the giving of these items and cut down on our own personal bottom lines while also letting the little ones of today's world gain a true appreciation for earning things?

I'd love to hear your opinion!