$PIRIT OF THE $EASON: ... BUT CONSUMERISM CAN COME AT A STEEP PRICE.(Viewpoint)

Byline: CHRIS WEINKOPF

A simple errand this past week took me to Canoga Park's Westfield Topanga mall, where, following a recent $500 million upgrade, nothing is simple. Along with hordes of other Christmas shoppers, I navigated my way through an endless maze of stores -- 140 new shops featuring high-end boutiques like Furla, Burberry and Coach. Here $500 pairs of shoes sell alongside $2,000 purses; vendors hawk iPods, Blackberries and Bluetooths; a hamburger goes for $15.

Everything at this mall is big -- even the Target and the merry-go-round have two stories. Miles of Christmas lights descend from the rafters. A 300-foot glass, arched ceiling hangs over an ultra-hip food court, where meals are served with flatware and on china.

But lurking within this monument to mammon was a hint of the price of opulence: NannyCam.

NannyCam is a tiny, wireless video camera that allows parents to keep tabs on their kids' baby sitters. The device takes pictures throughout the day, and either stores them on a VCR or sends them via the Internet to Mom and Dad's desktops at work. At Westfield Topanga, these gizmos are on sale at one of those corridor kiosks that typically carry video games or custom license-plate frames. Apparently they're the ultimate accessory for the working shopper-parent.

There's something inherently creepy about NannyCam, beyond its Big Brother quality. And that's the product's intended customer -- parents who willingly leave their children with people they don't trust.

The existence of NannyCam raises some uncomfortable questions: If you're so suspicious of your baby sitters that you feel compelled to spy on them, why in the world would you entrust your children to their care? And isn't the best way to monitor your kids to take care of them yourself?

For many parents, of course, especially single ones without relatives nearby, no good child-care options may be available. For these families, a kindly stranger in the home may be a better option than day care, even if it requires video surveillance.

And there are also families for whom neither parent can stay at home because two incomes may be a financial necessity. I can relate: For 2 1/2 years after the birth of our first child, my wife worked part-time, although we both would have preferred otherwise. Fortunately, we were blessed to discover that with some moderate belt-tightening, plus the savings that come with having only one parent in the work force -- like dropping into a lower tax bracket and reducing our commuting costs -- we could make ends meet on a journalist's income.

Still, I'm dubious that a high proportion of the shoppers at Westfield Topanga fall into the group for whom two incomes is a necessity and not a lifestyle. Not at a mall with a full-service concierge and a valet parking area lined with Hummers and Jaguars. Sometimes our wants and expectations have a way of inflating our perceived needs.

Cultural and economic conditions can also compel families who would like to care for their children full time, but don't think they can afford it, to turn their kids over to someone else. For some parents, no doubt, NannyCam is a desperate attempt to stay involved in their children's day- to-day lives.

Somehow the great promise of feminism -- equality for women, with complete access to all the opportunities that men have in the marketplace -- has morphed into what often seems like an obligation, not a choice. ``Liberation'' has in too many cases made wage slaves of moms.

Moreover, the promised freedom of the sexual revolution has, over time, only freed men of the need to be responsible husbands and fathers. Legions of single moms have been left to fend for themselves and their kids without the help or support to which they should be entitled.

The result is that in a society that grows richer and richer -- with bigger, more opulent malls selling fancier and pricier stuff -- we increasingly find ourselves too poor or too disinterested to raise our own kids. In a culture that tends to value success, status and possessions above all else, it's the people who care little for these things -- small children -- who end up being valued least.

The lavishness on display at the mall is a testament to our nation's incredible material prosperity as well as its dire spiritual poverty. The best present any kid can get isn't for sale, not even at Westfield Topanga.