That is the way I used to feel. During the holiday seasons, my kids are very spoiled. They get to celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas. The problem is that they used to think that the holidays are more about getting things than appreciating what they have.
This lack of appreciation was a huge frustration for my wife and me. While we would see family and read the Chanukah prayers, my boys always wanted to move things along to open their gifts.
With this frustration in mind, I decided to write a new behavior story for the Adventures of Rusty The Greyhound. In Rusty Learns to Appreciate What He Has at Chanukah, Rusty is first very excited about opening 8 presents (one each night). But he is disappointed on the first night when he gets socks and not a toy. After talking to his mom, he realizes that the best part of the holiday is lighting the candles and spending time with his family.
My boys now appreciate their family more and what they have. Our older one hasn’t even told us anything he wants for the holidays.
