There were nine members of my family, including seven children, so my parents had to spread around a very thin, hard-earned dollar at Christmas.

Dad used to say that he should give us kids I.O.U.s for Christmas because he could go shopping the day after and get everything for half price. The benefit for us kids was that he could spend the same amount of money and get us twice as many toys.

Of course being impatient, Santa-waiting kids, we never accepted his deal.

However, now that I am a parent and a grandparent, I love the idea.