Share Photos and Videos of Your Children Opening Their Christmas Presents

There's not much better than a child's face when they run to the tree in the morning and start ripping into all the gifts Santa brought them. Share your moments of joy!

"Opening presents is like playing air hockey with God," is what Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal once wrote in trying to capture the joy of children opening gifts on Christmas morning. There's not much better than a child's face when they run to the tree in the morning and start ripping into all the gifts Santa brought them. Let's share those moments here and put a smile on everyone's face with a gallery of Salem kids opening their gifts on Christmas morning. Click the "Upload Photos and Videos" button to add your photo or video to our gallery. Who knows, your kid might go viral like the Nintendo 64 kid (see attached video).

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How Do You Balance Greed and Gifts?

Consumerism surrounds the holiday season: is greed inevitable, and how do you avoid it?

For those children who celebrate, Christmas' biggest connotation can be a pile of gifts under the tree. With this in mind, a panel of staff contributors at the Chicago Tribune tackled the question of whether it's inevitable to see greed in their kids around Christmastime. The parents weighed in on suggestions to remind kids of Christmas spirit. Among their suggestions? Help your kids round up some old toys to donate to charity before giving them new toys. Sign them up to participate in a community service project. The Tribune's advice got us thinking at Patch about how we were taught or are teaching our kids to be less greedy around the holidays. Some of our suggestions? Find a giving tree and let your child pick a name or two off of it, …

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SHARE YOUR PHOTOS: Xmas Tree Lighting

Share your photos of tonight's annual holiday gathering with us.

Salem will officially kick off the holiday season locally with the annual town Christmas tree lighting. The Salem Lions Club will host the Christmas tree lighting tonight starting at 6:30 p.m. The tree is located at Veterans Park at Salem Common on Main Street at the intersection with Bridge Street. If you are attending this year's ceremony, we'd love it if you could share your photos or videos of the ceremony. You can do it by clicking the "Upload Photos and Video" button above. Check out our gallery from last year's ceremony here.

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Primary Countdown

Romney Running on His Own Terms

Will the front-runner skip a debate on Primary eve?

With a burrito in hand and a lead deep in pocket, Mitt Romney ends his three-day bus tour today in Concord. All signs point to the former Massachusetts governor having a good week in his adopted state. All signs, too, point to Romney running on his own terms. WMUR reports that Romney has yet to agree to participate in its debate on Jan. 7, three days before the New Hampshire Primary. All this led the news station to ask again, Is Romney playing it too safe? Here is your Primary Countdown for Friday, Dec. 23, 18 days remain until the New Hampshire Primary. About that Burrito Madness: The "Earn It" tour wraps up today in Concord. Mitt Romney's bus and car caravan has an 8 a.m. stop at the Tilt'N Diner in Tilton, then it snakes its way down I…

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