What's the best part about Christmas morning with kids? Is it the excitement on their faces? The heartfelt "thank you mommy/daddy/Santa!" when they open their gifts? Or could it be the blissful silence that settles over the house as they contentedly play with their new toys?

As TODAY Moms reader Nicole Powers Sakaitis said, "I hope never to hear 'I'm bored' anytime soon."

Now that's a gift that keeps on giving! On our TODAY Moms Facebook page, we asked how your kids reacted to opening their holiday presents, and got some adorable stories. Here are some of your sweetest and funniest replies:

Amanda 'Long' Stone My parents bought my son a box of cars fruit snacks (he is a little crazy about fruit snacks). He took off the wrapping and excitedly screamed "Look! I got a box!!" And didn't even care what was inside :)

Nikki Cousinaw Our three year old came out of her bedroom to see the presents under the tree and promptly did a facepalm. Hah. It was HILARIOUS.

Colleen Steves My two year old was amazed by every present and said "tank you" several times. I thought my heart would explode.

Michele Merritt Holloman My kids were blessed with a very good Christmas, however when my 11 yr old opened her portable dvd player she almost cried---she will use this to watch movies in her hospital bed when she has her 12th surgery next month---many thanks to her Mommom who helped :-}

Jennifer Stutts-Pruski My kids were very happy. It was even sweeter to hear them keep saying "Thank you!!!" to Santa and me. My 7 year old son even waited for his 3 year old sister to wake up before he tore into anything!

Michelle Alvarez Dean My 15 month old son wasn't quite sure what to do with the wrapping paper, almost like he didn't want to make a mess. I think his favorite gift was also the least expensive, a broom and dustpan!! He's been sweeping since he got it and as soon as he sees me sweep he grabs it. Love him!!

Jessica Smith Bolyard After an hour of opening presents and playing with them, my nearly three year old daughter, looked at me and my husband and said, "It is Christmas YET?"

Daryl Ayala My son got almost everything he asked Santa for. This is the 2nd Christmas out of 4 that my husband has been deployed and I always try and make it extra special for our 3 year old. His birthday was just 8 days prior so I saved a lot of the really good gifts for Christmas. Mostly Cars items, of course, but what I think his best present was: a t shirt saying 'I'm the BIG brother'!! It was the perfect way to announce my pregnancy :)

Jamie Bishop Every year my sister in law buys all of the kids pajamas to open on Christmas Eve. Last night my 2 year old sat in my lap as we opened it together and as soon as she discovered what they were she lost it... she ran from person to person SCREAMING I love pajamas and jumping up and down. Cutest Christmas moment ever!

Teresa Curtis Kaspar Best reaction was son spending seven hours yesterday putting his new Legos together and he was not going to stop until they were complete!

Heather Thomas Rowa Our kids did not get their "big gift" yet this year, but they didn't even mention any disappointment about it. They have been so thankful and it warms my heart! (the gifts were sold out)

Lori Frownfelter Our little boy will be three in January and he just loved tearing open the packages and yelling OH WOW! Then he wants to play with it and we had to coax him to open the others. When he was done he had just really gotten the hang of it all!...! He really loves everything. Our 14 and 22 year daughters had so much fun helping get things ready for him and each other. We all had a great Christmas. Our oldest daughter and her husband and. our first granddaughter came over in the afternoon to spend the rest of the day. It was a beautiful Christmas!!

Our present to you: More TODAY Moms stories
Dealing with the holiday gimmees
Most unusual requests to Santa 
Why being a Jewish mom at Christmas isn't so bad

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The best in parenting news and blogs from around the Web.

Hooray! Lego is finally marketing a line of its plastic building bricks towards little girls. At long last, girls will be encouraged to build and create, developing the same set of critical math, fine motor and spatial skills boys are urged to use. Except... the products the company has developed for girls use big bricks, which are easily assembled, thus not helping girls develop those fine motor and engineering skills. After conducting lots of product research, Lego decided that girls like more imaginative play, less building. So, the new Friends line, features larger dolls that all come with their own back story and lots of girly accessories. This move has many calling Lego execs a bunch of blockheads for reinforcing gender stereotypes with this new line and failing to provide girls with a brain-stimulating new toy.

Is the hot, hot, hot new job for work at home moms really phone sex operator?! Some of these moms say that while the ethical dilemmas of the gig can be a bit uncomfortable, the pay and the ability to work it from home, more than make up for any morality issues. Taking the term, MILF, to new levels, these saucy mamas say they're able to make hundreds of dollars a day with little effort and without leaving the house. Some say that the number of mothers of young children, who are now steaming up the phone lines, have increased a whopping 400 percent in the past 18 months. Who would have thought there'd be so many telephonic suitors on the line during naptime to make this such a viable business?

Every couple who's been pressured by their parents to hurry up and make them grandparents, knows the reaction's going to be good when they finally do make their big announcement. However, few reactions will beat the pure joy and enthusiasm shown by this gay couple when told they were about to be grandfathers. If you watch this video, which you should, you might want to turn the volume down a bit, because these two have sufficient vocal capacity on their own. This video, which was uploaded a year ago, has just recently gone viral. We're hoping everything went well with the pregnancy and can't even imagine how spoiled that baby's about to be this Christmas.

Hanukkah's on the way, which for kids means eight days of presents (and, oh yeah, the menorah, latkes and religious observance). One mom is none too happy that her young toddler has already thought to ask for Hanukkah presents this year -- including a Dora the Explorer sleeping bag. While this mom's glad that her young daughter's enthusiastic about the holiday, she's not necessarily thrilled about the more (possibly arbitrary) commercial aspect of it. She feels that Hanukkah's a relatively minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, but one that's gotten to be a bigger deal, simply because of its proximity to Christmas.

Finally, some good news in the war on childhood obesity. Kids in New York City are reporting the largest decline in obesity rates to date. Some are crediting the common sense approach of better food and more exercise, combined with early intervention for kids seen as at-risk for becoming obese. Schools in New York have started serving better cafeteria food and requiring better nutrition in the foods served. They've also given kids more time to get some physical activity into their days. School nurses are in on the act too, watching out for kids who are in danger of becoming obese and working with their parents early on to curb the problem. Kids in California have also reported success in slimming down.

Dana Macario is a TODAY Moms contributor and Seattle mom to two sleep-depriving toddlers. She is currently developing an alarm clock that will start an IV coffee drip 10 minutes prior to wake-up time. Once properly caffeinated, she also blogs at www.18years2life.com

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“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” the song says. And that seems to be true, for most of you out there celebrating Christmas. But what about for the rest of us?

Contrary to what it may seem like this time of year, there are a lot of people out there who don’t "do" Christmas. As a Jewish parent, I have nothing but respect for Christmas, but it’s not my holiday (more on what I believe at the Jewish parenting website Kveller) and I don’t celebrate it. Neither do Muslims, atheists, Hindus, pagans… the list goes on. Even some Christians celebrate the holiday differently from the mainstream’s version of Santa on the roof.

Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

Nice tree, but I'll stick with my hanukkiah, thanks. Jordana Horn is teaching her kids to appreciate other cultures, while coming home to their roots.

So maybe your kids feel left out of the Christmas to-do? It’s understandable. Maybe Santa’s lap looks pretty appealing at the mall (what kid wouldn’t like the idea of an adult whose sole job is to bring you presents?). Maybe an endless stream of cookies and candy canes sparks sugar envy.

Certainly, American culture places Christmas in a position of cultural prominence. You’re hard pressed to turn on a radio in December without hearing Jingle Bells, or to drive a few miles without seeing brightly colored lights or a pine tree tied to the top of a car. So one could see where kids in particular might feel like there’s a big party going on – a party to which they, the non-Christmas-observers, aren’t invited.

You guys do make it look like a heck of a lot of fun.

But I’d argue that you can "ooh" and "ahh" at the Rockefeller Center tree without feeling jealous and without forsaking your own ideals. Part of what is so amazing about living in America is living alongside of traditions and cultures other than our own.

As a parent, I try to make this time of year a living laboratory where I can teach my kids a lesson they will need throughout life. Throughout their lives, they will need, as the proverb has it, roots and wings. They will need to stretch their wings and soar, yet never forget where they came from.

In our house, we tell the story of Judah Maccabee, sometimes reenacting it with blocks and Legos. We play fierce competitive dreidel. We sing songs as we light the hanukkiah (the accurate term for what is commonly called a menorah) each night, and talk in simple terms about what they mean in Hebrew and English. The house smells like greasy potato pancakes for days – a traditional Hanukkah food that is basically French fries on steroids. We eat doughnuts (another Hanukkah tradition). We not only observe Hanukkah, but celebrate it – celebrate being who we are. We're not "competing" with Christmas – Christmas is, as we celebrate our own holiday, irrelevant.  If you celebrate effectively, there’s no time or inclination to be jealous of what anyone else is doing.

We can also take advantage of the fact that we are not celebrating Christmas by giving back to our communities. We can help out local soup kitchens, hospitals, and other places that depend on volunteers that are understaffed because of the holiday. In doing so, we teach our children that we are part of a larger community and although we don’t celebrate Christmas, we can help others celebrate a holiday that has deep meaning for them. In my community, there are plenty of programs that "match" would-be Christmas Day volunteers so they can do just that.

We should also not get so riled up by the omnipresence of Christmas in America’s December. By driving by all the brightly-lit trees and then coming home to who we are, I believe, we have the chance to teach our children an important lesson: We can appreciate what others do, but always remember and take pride in who we are, too.

That sounds pretty wonderful to me.

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Most parents are torn between two conflicting impulses during the holidays. We want to make the holidays magical for our children and give them everything their little hearts desire.

But, we don’t want them to get spoiled.

It’s a tough line, and in the safety of an anonymous survey, most of us admit we go overboard. Our TODAY Moms and Parenting.com online survey of 6,000 parents found that three-quarters of us think our children are a little or a lot spoiled. Almost 60 percent of us think our children are more spoiled than we were as kids. (“When I was your age, I would get socks for Christmas, and I liked it! Then I would walk to school uphill both ways in the snow.”)

Getty Images stock

Better not pout... or glare at your parents with homicidal rage because they got the wrong Barbie Dream House. Are your kids spoiled by the holidays?

Who’s to blame? Sometimes we can point the finger at grandparents and other relatives who turn every holiday into a spending spree.

More from Parenting.com: Are your children spoiled?

But more often, we know exactly who the spoiler is – us.  Moms reported they plan to spend an average of $271 per child this holiday, with one in 10 saying they’ll shell out upwards of $500 on gifts for each child. Despite the struggling economy, only 1 in 4 moms say they plan to spend less on presents this year.

“I have spoiled my children. I have always been under the belief that if I don’t give them everything, no one will,” one mom confessed in our survey. But, she’s trying to fix things: “I have started to change that mentality. I have asked them to start working for their gifts. The funny thing is, they don’t mind at all.”

Click here to read more spoiled-kid confessions from our survey

Of course, parents are caught in a guilt trap. If they give their children too much, they feel bad for spoiling them. But if, like many families this year, they can't afford to buy what they want for your kids -- well, that feels even worse. Three-quarters of moms say they feel guilty saying no to things on their children's wish lists.

"I am a single mom who just tells my son I will do what I can, and if I can get what he wants then I try my best," one mom wrote. "But he knows the true meaning of Christmas, and being with family is the most important thing to us.' 

Even parents who can't afford it will often try to splurge at the holidays. One mom wrote of a disastrous Christmas: “I spent about $1,000 on two kids and wasn’t working at the time. On Christmas morning they opened them as fast as possible. They had at least 20 items apiece and they actually said, ‘Is that all?’ I was hurt and actually cried and cut back the next year (some).”

As for teaching the true holiday spirit, 70 percent say they donate to charity – but 20 percent say they don’t do much of anything to teach kids to give back. And one-quarter of moms say they never make their kids write thank-you notes.

We do have some standards, though. If a kid pitches a fit when Grandma gives him socks instead of a Wii, 98 percent of parents say they’ll take some corrective action, whether it’s making the child apologize (68 percent), reprimanding the child (19 percent), or giving them a talking-to later (8 percent).

When it comes to keeping kids in line, the best strategy, of course, is to model gratitude and good manners. But if that fails, there’s always the good old “Santa’s watching” threat – 57 percent of parents say they use this one.

How do you raise grateful kids? And if you fear your kids are already spoiled, how to you reverse the damage? Join TODAY Moms contributor and parenting expert Amy McCready, author of “If I Have To Tell You One More Time…,” for a chat on the TODAY Moms Facebook page at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Let us spoil you with more great stories from TODAY Moms:
Your cute kids: Scared silly by Santa
The most popular baby names of 2011
How to teach smart money habits over the holidays

Full Survey Results: TODAY Moms and Parenting.com's online, non-scientific survey of 6,000 moms

Do you think your kids are spoiled during the holidays? 
Yes. Our gift-giving has gotten out of control.   19.9%
A little.  We could definitely cut back.   56.2%
No. We set limits and stick to them.   23.9%

Do you ever feel guilty for saying no to something on your child’s wish list?     
Never. We’re the parents spending the  money, and they need to accept that.   24.1%
A little, but we openly discuss why some gifts aren’t possible.   57.7%
Yes. As parents we want to be able to give them everything.   18.2%

Compare how spoiled your kids are to how spoiled you were at their age.  Are they:    
More spoiled   59.0%
Less spoiled   10.8%
About the same   30.2%

What do you do to teach kids the importance of giving back during the holiday season?             
Volunteer as a family   16.3%
Donate gifts and/or money to those less fortunate   70.2%
Other   16.5%
Not much   21.2%

Do you require your kids to send thank-you notes?       
Always   30.7%
Sometimes   41.7%
Never   27.6%

Your child pitches a fit when Grandma gives him an unwanted gift. How do you handle this situation?                
Immediately apologize on your child’s behalf    3.5%
Make your child apologize for his behavior       67.8%
Reprimand/discipline the child   19.2%
Nothing in the moment, but we’ll sure be talking about it later   7.6%
Laugh it off…kids will be kids   1.8%

Do you bribe kids into good behavior with the “Santa’s watching…” threat?     
Yes         57.1%
No          32.5%
Not applicable  10.3%

Do your kids spend their own money on gifts?
Yes         36.3%
No          22.5%
No, but only because they’re too young to have their own money.         41.2%

Your child is begging you for this year’s “must-have” (but impossible to get) gift.  What is the most extreme measure you’ll take in order to get it?     
Stop by the store a few times and hope it’s in stock   43.9%
Visit multiple stores until I track it down   27.9%
Wrestle it away from another parent in the toy aisle   0.5%
Wait on abnormally long lines   12.6%
Research online until I find it     50.0%
Pay a premium to get it   7.2%
All of the above - whatever it takes   3.8%
None of the above   17.7%

How do you keep holiday spending under control?        
Setting and sticking to a strict budget    38.6%
Bargain shopping at outlet stores, using coupons, etc.   49.7%
Only buying gifts for the kids     28.5%
Gift exchanges like Yankee Swaps  and Secret Santa       7.7%
Set strict limits on the number of gifts given per person, regardless of age   16.2%
We don’t! This isn’t the time of year to hold back.   11.2%

Do you feel pressure to keep up with other families this time of year?                
Absolutely          7.9%
Sometimes         38.7%
Never   53.4%

Approximately how much will you spend per child this year?   
Under $25           1.3%
$25 to 50              4.2%
$51 to $100         13.4%
$101 to $200       26.7%
$201 to $300       24.2%
$301 to $400       12.4%
$401 to  $500      7.8%
$501 to $1,000   7.2%
More than $1,000    2.6%

Mean:   $271

How will your holiday spending compare to last year’s?              
We’ll spend less.    25.9%
We’ll spend about the same.   66.1%
We’ll spend more.  8.0%

Do you have a friend or family member who spoils your kid too much?
Yes      49.8%
No       50.2%

Have you ever asked anyone to scale back the number of gifts given to your kid?
Yes     54.8%
No      45.2

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Courtesy Julia Sommerfeld

Jude (then 1) says: Get me outta here!

There are certain times being a parent can be so...entertaining. Taking the kiddos to take a picture with Santa, for example. We all assume it will be a meeting resulting in wide eyes, hugs, and super-hero admiration. But in so many cases, it's just not.

Take dapper little Jude (son of TODAY.com editor Julia Sommerfeld), shown above. His "get-me-outta-here" expression seems to confound even Santa. We asked for your best "Scared of Santa" photos and were inundated with great pictures. Here's our first sampling. Thanks for sharing and expect to see more in the coming weeks before Christmas. Like TODAY Moms on Facebook to join in our photo fun! 

Courtesy Maria Walp

Adam, 7, and Sarah, 3. Hmmm, Santa, who is naughty and who is nice?

Courtesy April James

Shiloh Rose's holiday horror

Courtesy Jennifer Culp

Avery, right, is a little less happy about meeting Santa than brother Tucker is.

Courtesy Erika McGovern

Santa did not make a good impression on Emily, 10 months

Courtesy Melissa Gard

Kennedy, 11 months, says: Make him go away!

Courtesy Maria Carter

Allison, 2, says: Get me off this FatMan''s Lap!

Courtesy Amanda Selke

Brooke tries to make a fast break...

Courtesy Tara Delgado

Mia, 2, says: Help!

Courtesy Sarah Morrisseau

Ashby, 2, wants to go far away...

Courtesy Brooke Stanchey

10-month-old Kate is "scared stiff"

Courtesy Dominique Love

Big sister Jackie (on left) to little sister Jillian: Atleast someone's been good!

Courtesy Christine Shultz

Santa's got a handful with Ryan, 3, and Ellie Grace, 1.

Courtesy Amy Van Brocklin

An unhappy then-16-month old Alison...mom says: Six years later we can all laugh about this.

Courtesy Britany Ek

Twins Ethan and Jacob, 10 months, are split on whether Santa's a nice guy.

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While it may seem like you’re only just discreetly disposing of that leftover Halloween candy and starting to feel a little queasy about the looming logistics and culinary challenges of Thanksgiving (now under a week away), it should be noted that there are still other holiday-related necessities to worry about, namely gift shopping. Whether you got started on your shopping this summer  (don’t you just hate people who are that organized?) or you’re last-minute maniac, we’re about to dive headlong into the annual fray. Are you prepared? Do you feel lucky?

According to retail experts, the hottest items this year, for both kids and adults, are often the same things. The legitimately young and the …er... young-at-heart are both competing for the latest gadgets and collectibles. For the gift-giver, this can be an expensive dilemma. It’s a sobering statistic, but evidently the average American will spend $710 on holiday presents this year. Once again, are you prepared?

What are the big items on your family’s wish list this year? More importantly, have you started shopping? What’s your strategy? Share your secrets in the comments section.

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