The story begins when I had an epiphany. It seemed like a brilliant idea--to me, anyway. I was going to stay up and meet Santa Claus! Then, my parents told me I couldn't. My mother said, "Santa won't come until you're asleep." I cried. I screamed. I yelled! My parents sent me upstairs to bed. I wouldn't see Santa that night.

I lay angrily in my bed before going to sleep. I thought I'd never forgive my parents. What I didn't know was that there was no Santa. My parents just didn't want me to be disappointed. They wanted a good Christmas for all of us.

Eventually, I learned a lot from this fight. I ruined my own Christmas Eve by making my own problem. If I could have just trusted the people who loved me, my mother and father, then I could have had a much happier Christmas. This experience was one step toward becoming a more trusting son.

I guess parents and children will never really get along, but that's not a bad thing. Children are learning who they are, how they should act, and how to relate to their parents. This conflict taught me something about trust, and every argument teaches a child a little something new.