The man turned around, smiled a big toothy smile and said, "You're welcome," then continued on his merry way.

Reluctantly, I closed my door and walked into my empty living room, placed the boxes on the floor, sat down on the cold tile and untied the string. I placed the two boxes side by side and noticed that one box had a label that clearly read "BOY-7' and the other box "GIRL-4". One for each of my children.

Placing my hands gently on the BOY-7 box, I was trying to decide whether I should open it or just find paper and wrap it as is. Curiosity got the best of me and I opened the box. Inside was a black hat, a pair of red mitts, black sox, a red scarf, yellow sweater and a brown pair of cords all placed in layers. Underneath the clothes was a book and a He-Man figure. Stuffed in the side of all that treasure was a bag of candy and a candy cane. In my daughter's box was basically the same clothing items but in girly colours. There was a dolly with a pretty dress, a little girl's book of My Little Pony, a bag of candy and a candy cane. By God but my kids struck pay dirt! The mother load!

I decided right then and there that somehow, somewhere, I would find at least five bucks to buy some wrapping paper and a few shiny decorations. I tied the boxes back up and picked them up. I needed to find a good hiding spot so that my kids wouldn't find the goodies. My kids were like purebred bloodhounds when it came to sniffing out anything that was hidden and not to be found. They were amazing and it perturbed me greatly whenever they did find hidden things.