The Christmas Miracle

As an adult I have , in Christmas past, felt the pressure to pull off a miracle. My wife and I would set a budget of what to spend on each other and Max, then we would set off in different directions with shopping karts, later we would meet up with the gifts for Max and determine what we could get and what needed to go back. Then I would run around the store buying up everything I could get. I would go over budget by, well... a lot. Then rush to the register to purchase my pile and then to the car to hide it. Later I would sneak it in and wrap it but be careful to keep it hidden until Christmas morning. Then BAMB!!! A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!! Two things would happen that I didn't expect 1 my kid just plain didn't care, 2 my wife was a little bothered I had spent so much more then our budget without discussing it. What the Freak!! I just pulled off a Christmas miracle and no one is happy about it. Now I have seen both sides of this deal. As the father of a family the pressure of making everyone happy and as a child who expected more because I was told there should be more. This of course is my own perception of it. In reality I have a very unworldly wife who cares more about time together with loved ones then gifts and a son who is plenty happy with a 97 cent matchbox car. The pressure was all my doing. I realize that as the father and leader of the home a happy Christmas is about my attitude. If I feel stressed then the family is stressed, if I'm grumpy the family is grumpy. So I came to the conclusion I'm gonna forget about pulling off a miracle and just have fun with Christmas. I don't really care about getting a gift at all. I know my wife doesn't either and Max is really easy to please. I bet if there were no present under the tree he wouldn't even notice, just having mom and dad for the day to play games would be a ton of fun for him. We all know that its about the birth of Christ and we need to focus on that and we have all heard the stories of the family who does a ton for others or what ever. I know we will find service for other people, with HD thats a year round thing so I'm not gonna stress about that either. I'm just going to sit back, relax, spend some time with the family, play some games and come what may.