O. k., Norman Rockwell did sometimes push the cuteness factor a bit too hard, especially in his advertising work. (The image above is from a magazine ad -- the family is excited because dad is bringing home a new Plymouth for Christmas.) The expression on the face of the boy on the right is just a bit too orgasmic for the occasion. The expression on the face of the dog makes up for this to a degree -- I get a feeling he's looking forward to urinating on the Plymouth's new tires. The self-absorption of the birds also makes for a nice counterpoint to the ecstasy induced by conspicuous material consumption.
Yet for all that the image moves me. It sums up exactly how I felt in the Christmases of my youth, which is pretty much exactly how I still feel at Christmas -- surprising considering how many such seasons I have under my belt. Sometimes art isn't meant to make us rethink how we feel about things -- sometimes it's meant to remind us how we feel about things.
Remove the Plymouth from the equation -- imagine it's just dad, a salesman perhaps, back from a long road trip in time for the holidays. That works, too.