In my 13 years of parenting, there's two things I know to be true about Christmas:

(1) As kids get older, their Christmas lists may get shorter but the price of said lists goes up exponentially

(2) Even if they're old enough to understand the logic behind these expensive lists, no one wants less boxes to open on Christmas morning.

When they were younger we could easily get away with a +/- 1 differential but at 13, 10, 10 and 6, the risk/benefit analysis means one thing: Everyone must have an equal number of presents.

You see where this is going, right?

I'm normally a really organized person but this Christmas snuck up on me. My usual Christmas spreadsheet - complete with links and prices and a numbering system that ensures that we not only get an equal number of gifts, but open said gifts in the right order - never saw the light of day. But because we were dealing with fewer gifts, I thought I had it under control.

Until 6 AM when we were setting everything out before letting the kids come downstairs and one kid was one present shy. Shit. I suddenly realized what my parents were doing when they were making me and my siblings sit on the stairs for eternity on Christmas morning because I was about to do the same exact thing.

My husband went to raid our stash of birthday presents to see if there was anything we could use. When he came up empty handed, he mentioned my Secret Santa gift and it couldn't have been more perfect! I quickly wrapped it up and set it amongst the pile and Sam was none the wiser - and quite excited to open the Saints throw and wall sign!

Thank you, Secret Santa! Your generosity saved the day!