The Price of Christmas Happiness

"Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don't quite know how to put our love into words."
~Harlan Miller


This is it. We're in the final stretch until the the Big Day. You know what day I'm talking about. The day that makes our kids turn into complete crazy, they've-lost-their-mind, foolish beasts.
When all they can do is the slow walk past the Christmas tree, giving calculating glances toward the loot piling up.
All while twiddling their fingers as they plot on how to successfully get permission to open a gift early.
For our children, it's a simple example of tunnel vision. They're focused on one thing and one thing only...
How do they get to open those darn gifts under the tree.
At some point, maybe during the transition into adulthood, we lost that sole purpose of Christmas. We quit reveling in the miracle of all our traditions, our family get-togethers and of course - the anticipation of presents.
Now its a matter of making sure our wallet stays full and open, as we watch the dollar bills just fly out of there.
"Mom, I have a gift exchange at school..."
"Don't forget my teacher's gift..."
"It's time for secret Santa...."
"Hey, should we all draw names for a neighborhood gift exchange?"
"Remember you signed up for the cookie exchange and need to bring 11 dozen kinds of cookies, preferably in 11 different decorated tins."
Huh?
I think as adults we can all remember that one incredible gift we got one year, and how we never, ever forgot it. The one gift that made every thing right in the world. Like when Ralphie got his Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time. I got a gift like that one year; they were called White Leather Nikes with the Red Swoosh. I can still remember how happy I was when I opened that box.
As parents, we all would love to be able to present our children with that one perfect gift. But how do we do that while not making ourselves broke, and instilling a sense of gratitude and wonder in them?
How do we teach them to be gracious when they turn into "I want I want I want" little maniacs every time we pass a Nintendo display at Target?
Is there a special secret to getting them to be just as grateful when they get a $5 book as they would if they were to receive a $300 gaming system?
I suppose it's up to us as the parents. And my wishes for them are pretty simple...
I want them to feel gratitude with simple things.
I want them to know love.
I want them to understand life's greatest gifts cannot be wrapped with a bow.
I want them to feel that even though they get in fist fights and hair pulling wrestling matches with their siblings, no one on this earth will have their back like a sister or a brother.
I want them to look forward more to our family traditions on the holidays - like bowling and Chinese food - than to what's underneath the tree on Christmas morning.
And finally, I want them to keep a light heart and find humor in everything, even during the holidays. Because we all know how stressful this time of year can be, especially when we want everything to be perfect.
And let's face it... if Mary can smooth things over with Joseph and that whole virginal birth thing, I think the rest of us can survive most anything.