This sort of thing should happen more often:

Texas Dad Sells Christmas Gifts on eBay

HOUSTON Dec 25, 2004 — The kids were naughty, Dad put the presents on eBay instead of under the tree and Mom's been crying ever since. Now, even the tree's down.

Saturday morning was sure not to be very jolly for three brothers 9, 11 and 15 who didn't straighten up when their father told them Santa wasn't too please with their fighting, cuss words and obscene gestures.

Dad and Mom had warned their sons that the Nintendo DS video system and the three games that go with it were headed for the auction block if they didn't get their act together.

"No kidding. Three undeserving boys have crossed the line. Tonight we sat down and showed them what they WILL NOT get for Christmas this year. I'll be taking the tree down tomorrow," the man announced in his eBay posting.

"If you don't buy them, we'll return them to the store," the seller known online as magumbo 2000 reported on the site.

Thursday night, the auction wound down with bidding at $465.01 below the price the man had set. He said he would probably list the items again.

A single day of particularly bad behavior set the Christmas crackdown in motion.

"These are normally really good kids," said Dad, who asked the Houston Chronicle not to reveal his name. Dad even admits he and Mom are partly to blame for being too lax at times.

But enough was enough. The warning of an impending sale came earlier in the week at a sit-down between offspring and parents.

"We told them they were destroying each other and the calm and peace in the household. It had to stop," said the man, who did tell the paper that he works as an information technology specialist and lives in Pasadena.

The boys pledged to be nice, but were back to their old ways the next morning.

That night, Dad announced that he would indeed be putting $700 in video games up for sale on eBay. The oldest boy double-dared his dad to make good on his word.

Dad said Mom has been in tears since the showdown.

"I don't do it outwardly," he said, "but I'm crying on the inside."

And who bought the items?

Naughty kids' Christmas gifts sold on eBay Monday, December 27, 2004 Posted: 8:59 AM EST (1359 GMT)

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- An online casino that bought a cheese sandwich said to bear the Virgin Mary's image and a cane sold to banish a young boy's fear of ghosts has struck again -- this time paying a man $5,300 for his naughty children's Christmas gifts.

The Pasadena man said last week that he decided to auction the three Nintendo DS game systems because his sons, ages 9, 11, and 15, had misbehaved.

The family's decision made national headlines, intriguing GoldenPalace.com, casino spokesman Monty Kerr said.

"Everybody knows Santa doesn't come to naughty kids," Kerr said Sunday.

The Antigua-based casino agreed to bid on the game systems as long the family promised to donate the proceeds to charity, he said.

The family told him it will buy a new heater for its church and do other renovations.

The casino plans to donate the game systems to a needy Houston family, Kerr said.

The father, who has been identified only by his eBay seller name magumbo--2000, could not be reached for comment.

The casino has paid about $108,000 for eBay oddities in just more than a month.

Kids today are spoiled, unruly, rude, and downright assholes. If more parents would start taking things away and stop pampering, you wouldn't have all of these juvenile deliquents running around being menaces to society. I'm sure some crazy daisy parenting group is going to come out and slam these parents for causing "mental anguish" on their kids. Bullshit I say. These kids don't deserve Christmas gifts and anyone who says different is full of shit. Take the damn gifts away and punish the brats. They're lucky they didn't grow up the way I did because right now they'd be nursing bruised egos and bruised asses.

Parents, stop coddling your children. Stop giving them everything they want. Start being parents and punishing them when they do wrong. If you don't teach them now, they'll never learn. Stop being afraid to tell your children "no". Stop being afraid of offending them. You're only hurting yourself and your children when you let them get their way.

Take note kiddies...this could be you next Christmas. Parents are getting sick of your shit. Buckle up or expect to be treated like the little jerks you are. This goes for all of you and I don't care who gets pissed by it. Stop.Being.Assholes.