To shop or not to shop?!

According to stores, the season is upon us. As I was shopping earlier today, I noticed Christmas trees. That's rights...forget Halloween or Thanksgiving...Christmas is fast approaching. Although I promised myself to get my shopping done early so that I wouldn't have to drag poor Norah out into the cold or spend time away from my family to shop...I am baffled at why they would have Christmas decorations up already. Doesn't anyone get excited about Halloween anymore? Why is it that Thanksgiving gets almost no recognition at all? Anyhow, since everyone else has started thinking about it, I'll let you in on a little secret...Santa has already taken note of the desires of 3 little Richmond ladies and has already checked his list twice. With that said, I have noticed that Santa's deliveries are getting more and more chintzy each year. Most of Santa's shopping was done online this year and let me tell you...the photos that represent the products are very deceiving. For example...I...I mean Santa...put in an order for ***shhhhh*** some princess polly pockets and although online it shows each of the princesses coming with additional characters (i.e. Ariel comes with flounder and sebastian) when they arrived, the adorable little sea creatures are nothing more than cardboard! When I returned it, I got another one that has the real deal for the same price. Why wouldn't they just send the real one to begin with and save the hassle?! The convenience of online shopping can't be beat, but there is still something to be said for physically handling the product before you purchase, so I gave up online and ventured to the stores. I feel like I easily could wrap up all my toys as a child and give them to my children as most of the toys anymore are cheaper re-creations of my childhood loves. Cabbage patch dolls, strawberry shortcake, smurfs...each of these held a special place in my heart at some point in my young life...and are starting to gain favor with my girls. However, each of these I noticed are much cheaper looking than what I ever remember. How is it that prices have gone up, yet quality has gone down? I would like to petition Santa to hire new elves...