Kevin raced to the Christmas tree and grabbed his first present. Rip! - off came the wrapping paper. What was it? A book - boring! On to the next: a toy car - boring! Then a Lego set, a model aeroplane kit, a pencil case - boring, boring, boring! Finally, he stormed out of the room. So much for Christmas!

Tomorrow is Black FridayThe day after US Thanksgiving, when lots of shops offer discounts on goods for Christmas shopping. - the biggest day in the Western world for Christmas shopping. On average, Americans spend $998 on presents - and 21.5% of them go into debt.

Around $15bn is spent each year on unwanted gifts. In Europe, 10% of people return one or more, while another 10% cannot remember what they were given.

Writing in Psychology Today, Sean Grover explains that having too many presents is damaging. Someone who is spoilt is likely to run into money problems: "Unwrapping a mountain of gifts produces a burst of happiness - but it has no staying power. Instead, it feeds an insatiable hunger for more."

Possessions, he adds, do not lead to happiness. A good relationship with your family and friends matters more - and giving is more likely to make you feel good. O HenryAn American author (1862 - 1910) whose real name was William Sydney Porter. He made his reputation as a short-story writer while serving five years in prison for embezzlement.'s classic short story The Gift of the Magi tells of a poor couple who sell their most precious possessions to buy presents.  

Another psychologist, Barry Schwartz, calls people who are happiest "satisficers", meaning they are happy with what they have. At the other end are "maximizers": people who are always on the look-out for something better.

Giving presents to your family has not always been part of Christmas. In Britain, there was a tradition of rich people giving boxes of presents to servants and the poor on 26 December - hence the name Boxing Day. The only present given in Charles DickensThe Victorian novelist is credited with inventing Christmas as we know it today through the warm descriptions of it in his books.'s 1843 novel A Christmas Carol is from ScroogeA miser who is taught to open his heart to other people by three visiting ghosts. to his clerk Bob Cratchit, in the form of a large goose.

According to an American historian, Paul Ringel, the idea of buying presents for children took hold in the 19^th Century. Before that, most Christmas celebrations took place in the streets. Wealthy New YorkersRingel particularly identifies a group of men who called themselves "Knickerbockers" after the trousers worn by early Dutch settlers., Ringel argues, were fearful that the poor would demand food and drink from them, so they set about making Christmas something associated with staying at home.

For a long time, the emphasis was on giving one or two simple presents. Some families have returned to this. And some give to charity.

Yes. The commercialisation of Christmas has got out of hand, with more emphasis on spending than on kindness and the spiritual meaning of the festival. If we had fewer presents we would appreciate them more.  

Others argue that what matters is the thought that goes into a present. A carefully chosen gift is an expression of love. It is not as if there are many occasions in the year when we give things to each other.