A few years back we rearranged our furniture. We wanted to move the TV into a position that would better suit all six of our kids. We found the perfect spot: we moved it into the dumpster. We figured the easiest way to screen programming and commercials was to not have to bother with it. We're lazy like that.

Anyhow, the many years that we did have the television, there were a few programs that my family liked to watch. One of them was a funny video blooper family show, which caught all sorts of hilarious mishaps on tape. Most of the home videos were truly funny, but I always cringed when they played their "heinous kid" segments, in which they featured children who behaved like little monsters. They would show these kids going into a rage over having to eat their green beans or flying into a fit because they were trying to sing and their brother kept interrupting them, or falling down into a crying tantrum because the parent walked in on them as they were doing something naughty, like smearing toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror. And of course the audience would cackle with hearty laughter.

One of this program's segments always included a montage of ungrateful kids. The video would open with a scene at a birthday party or a Christmas morning showing a kid ripping open his gift, staring at it, and crying, "This isn't what I wanted!" He would proceed to throw it, stomp on it, or drop it into his younger sibling's lap with an air of indignation.

I can still remember my surprise when this particular show played a video of a little girl opening a gift. While she was tearing into the present with exuberance, she didn't notice that the dress inside accidentally flew out with the wrapping paper. When she got to the heart of the package, the only thing left was the hanger. I cringed and waited for the wailing to ensue. Instead, the child's face lit up like the sun and she squealed, "A hanger! A hanger! Thank you! I love it!" It actually brought me to tears. Now that was a clip worth smiling for.

When I was little, I was a dreadful little wart. I could write pages and pages filled with examples about how heinous I was. I made Nellie Olsen look like a saint. However, I had one redeeming quality. I was thankful for what I got. My parents did not lavish my sister and me with gifts or treats. Going to McDonalds was reserved for birthdays or important occasions. It was a special thing to go out and eat in a restaurant--any restaurant. I could never understand going back to school after the holiday break and hearing kids complain about getting clothes for Christmas. We did not have lovely wardrobes; new clothes were like gold to us! My dad was in the Air Force, and if I asked for new clothes, he would joke, "I wear the same outfit every day--you can too." My parents were in very good shape financially, yet they taught us to be thankful and grateful by not giving us stuff. A gift was extraordinarily precious to me. It was precious because it was rare. Consider diamonds and gravel. Diamonds are precious because they are rare. Think about it--no one weaves gravel into a wedding dress; nobody sets gravel in gold or wears gravel earrings, bracelets, or necklaces. Why not? It's because there is an overabundant supply of gravel. Things that are commonplace are naturally taken for granted. Food, water, air, homes, our health, and so on, are not given much thought, or seem very "praiseworthy" until suddenly they become out of reach or are threatened. For the most part, people have been programmed to believe we deserve these basic things in life. And why be thankful for something we deserve? If we deserve something, then somebody should pay big time if we don't get that to which we are entitled.