Do you feel parents fixate entirely too much about spending on gifts and candy for religous holidays as?

I find it ironic, yes. But as an atheist, what bugs me is the sheer m of unrecyclable plastic waste that comes from these holidays. I always make this effort to do things 'green.' We reuse baskets, papier mache eggs, don't do Easter gr, and Easter is the only holiday we buy stuffed animals for the kids -- and we even try to go eco-friendly with those. Then the relatives and neighbors descend, all well-meaning no doubt, with what is a literal full garbage bag of toxic junk made in China. I wonder how the heck you're supposed to tell ignorant people "Uhm... thanks but no thanks."