Parents Just Don't Understand

I am the Homeroom Mom for my daughter's class. What this means is that I help the teacher with parties, events, and field trips. Today was their class Christmas party ( Catholic school, they actually get to celebrate the birth of Christ). Each child had to bring in a grab bag item worth no more than $2.50. I think the limit the teacher set was nice because not all the children come from well off families. A lot of the kids come from hard working families with limited resources.
My daughter and I went to the Dollar Store and found Precious Moments paper dolls and a pack of Christmas pencil erasers. We stayed within the limit. Well, as the presents were opened, there was a Hess truck ( what's that? A $20 item???), Clickets ( $8-10) and an assortment of other items from bubble bath to books. My daughter got this great Angelina Ballerina sticker book, one of the more humble presents were the parents stayed within the limits, like we did. She was so happy with it, she threw her arms around the girl that gave it and hugged her. Other kids were disappointed with their gifts. Yeah, if you gave an ultra cool Hess truck with motorcycles that drove up into it, it was hard receiving bubble bath. Some parents just don't get it. I wish the parents that gave the pricey gifts had watched the gift exchange go down. The teacher set a limit for a reason. She wanted to keep gifts equal, and she wanted to keep it modest so she could help them understand the true meaning of Christmas. Big flashy gifts took away from the lesson she gave earlier in the morning. Parents that can't follow directions and rules are only teaching their children to do the same thing.
I was so proud of my daughter for being gracious and thankful. That's what we are all about. Oh yeah, we follow rules and respect the teacher!