Materialistic

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season in Kolkata.....more than 39 degrees. Ansh spent most part of the day in his tub of water on the balcony. My estimate is that he was in the water for almost 3 hours. He just would not budge. He washed his toys, bathed his soft cuddlies for the hundredth time. I spent most of the day finishing up the novel I had started reading for the second time-Sidney Sheldon's - Memories of Midnight. I also watched movies on the TV-Kuch kuch hota hai, Mian Hoon Na & a little bit of Vivah. So it was the laziest afternoon spent in a long long time & truly relaxing. I was sort of glad that Abhi was away & that I could peacefully do my own thing. Usually the remote is in his control always.
In the evening myself & Ansh went out with Giri & Shruti for an outing. Decided to drop in at Pantaloons in the last moment. It was a dreadful decision. No one had anything on the shopping list & there was nothing good to browse. On top of that Ansh kept pestering me to buy him everything that he set his eyes on. He has become so materialistic. The worse thing is that he would not even bother with the things he buys after reaching home. It's just that he gets such a kick out of buying things.I guess he is totally spoilt. "Dada", our durban , is a big culprit. Ever since Ansh was very young, dada would take him out very often to the nearby small shops & buy him cheap toys. So, whenever Ansh would cry or be in a bad mood, the only balm was to send him out with dada. After a while, as Ansh grew, he started demanding to be taken to those shops saying "Mujhe Aage se kuch lena hai". Now, every time we go to the market, An sh is always on the look out for things to buy. I had always avoided taking him to a video game parlour. One day, however he was taken there by his chachi & dadi, & since then , every time we go to a mall, a trip to the video game parlour is a must. Even in birthday parties, Ansh is always only looking out for "things" that he can carry home with him from the "bag of goodies" that is burst. What should I do?? How do I tackle Ansh?
I know that problems occur when parents use gifts and other material goods as a substitute for love and attention and also that you do not spoil a child by giving them everything they want, you can only spoil a child by giving them things in place of emotional support and attention. Then you harm them. But as far as I , as a parent is concerned, every waking hour that I spent outside of office, is with Ansh. We don't go out anywhere on week ends without Ansh. Maybe, he needs us even more then. & yes, at time we do use "things" to calm him down. Like when I have to go on a tour, its always that I'll tell Ansh that I'll get him something nice. Even Abhi has left for Rajastan, promising Ansh that he'll get him lots of toys. There have been times when Ansh has not wanted me to go to office & I have promised him to get something from office to pacify him. I think therein lies the problem. Never use "things" as a substitute for emotional support.