Bradley, age seven, asked his sister Briana, age 9, to help him with his holiday gift list.  “I just don’t know what to get Mom and Dad,” he said.

“Something from you,” Briana replied.

          “Duh!” he said. “I know that, Brie!”       

          “You didn’t hear me, Bradley,” his sister snapped. I said ‘Something from you’ and I meant just that. Something you make or write or draw – like a handmade card or a picture of Doozer, your guinea pig!”

          “But I’ve been saving part of my allowance to buy something icey!”

          “ICEY?”

          “Yeah. Super cool!”

          “Like, what were you thinking?”

          “I dunno…” Bradley’s finger played with tabletop dust. “Like, maybe a fishbowl and a couple of goldfish? Mom would go Ga-Ga over that.”

          “And Dad would choke!”

          “Not if we named them Fumble and TD.”

          “Gimme a break! It’d be just another thing for both of them to take care of.”

          Bradley said, “ How ‘bout a plastic turtle then? I already bought a fishbowl.”

          “Bradleee!” Briana screamed. “Listen, will you? I said ‘Something from you!’”

          “What am I missing?” he asked.

          “The holidays aren’t about ‘getting for’; they’re about ‘giving to!”