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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 2804419" data-attributes="member: 99">Put me in the crowd who doesn't really think this is true.  BUT, if it is true then I honestly think that the best parenting move in the long run is not to sell the thing for a loss and give the kid a box full of coal.  Better IMHO that he should give the kid an empty box with a note inside saying how diappointed you are with his behavior of late and how you expect better in the future.  I'd also outline how if I were to see improvement over the next (X period of time, probably at least a couple months) that he would get the contents of the box and retain possession of it so long as his behavior was at an acceptable level.In fact, I might just skip the box itself and give him the note, probably before Christmas morning.  For a kid that age, disappointment over not getting a special gift is the sort of thing that can stick with them for a long time.  The emotional whiplash of seeing the box and then having it full of nothing (or coal) just seems a bit unnecessarily cruel.Unless he damaged the $2,000 stereo system when he kicked it, in which case you beat him with a sack of coal fortnightly until he's gotten a job and paid off the cost of repairs/replacements.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" /></blockquote>