Spirit of Christmas

Essays

Fiction, 12 and Younger
1st Place
Emilie Mai
2nd Place
Scott Denton

Non-fiction, 12 and Younger
1st Place
Erika Seiler
2nd Place
Faith Lemire-Baeten

Non-fiction, 13-18
1st Place
Erica Daves
2nd Place
Ricardo Hernandez

Non-fiction, 19 and Older
1st Place
Patricia Auch
2nd Place
Valarie Pinaglia

Honorable Mention
Dylan Collins
Amy Gatto

Other Entries
Lindsay Alves
Amy Cochran
Angie Haskell
Beth Hirning
Gertie Kandris
Heather Massey
Rebecca McCallister
Verna O’Furry
Harrison Prewett
Joyce Skeen-Bridges
Vivyan Torres
Sarah Wooton

I promise I won’t be a spoiled brat

First PlaceOne year after my mom did the Christmas shopping, I tried to sneak a peek at my newly brought presents. I decided that I was going to be sneaky and look in the closet.

While my mom was cooking, I went to the closet and yelled, “I’m going to look at my presents!”

When I cracked open the closet, my mom said, “You better not, or I will take them back.”

I quickly stole a glance at them and shut the door. My mom saw me do this and said that I wouldn’t get the gifts. I, like a spoiled little brat, begged her not to follow with what she said. She said she would think about it.

A week later my daycare and I went to Target to buy presents for children who didn’t have much. The girl I was picking out a present for wanted anything for Christmas. She was about seven, so I thought about when I was seven and what I had wanted. I wanted a Barbie doll, so I got her a Barbie.

I thought about all the gifts I get and started to fee bad about the past week. When I got the toy for that little girl I felt warm and happy inside. I realized looking at the presents was selfish. There are people who don’t get a lot of presents for Christmas. Now I never look at my presents and I’m always thankful for what I get.

I still like a lot of gifts, but I get twice the joy giving gifts to others.

This page was last modified Nov 14, 2007, 01:55:41 pm.