How many of us always thought that when we had kids we'd be the kind of parents who provide only high-quality, culturally enriching activities for our offspring, activities like chess tournaments, historical reenactments and art gallery openings? It's so easy to romanticize parenthood. Now we're proud of ourselves if we make sure that PBS show they're staring at is educational.

But did you realize, dear parents, that even that most vaunted of artistic genres, opera, is not actually out of reach? And if you are one of today's two Big Gift Giveaway winners, the arias of your howling kidlets are not the only ones you can hear, because you will receive a Seattle Opera four-pack of tickets to either the Jan. 20, 2013 2 p.m. family matinee of Cinderella or a four-pack of tickets to the March 10, 2013 2 p.m. family matinee of La Bohème.

How to enter the giveaway:

Step 1: You must be a ParentMap eNews subscriber in order to be eligible to enter and win prizes in the Big Gift Giveaway. If you already receive email from ParentMap, move on to step 2. If you don’t, sign up now.

ParentMap eNews is your ticket to family fun, must-read parenting news, and amazing giveaways (like this one, friend!).

Step 2: Leave a comment on this post answering this question: why would you like to take your kids to the opera? by 12 a.m., midnight, on Monday, December 24. Include your email address in DISQUS (not publicly) so that we can contact you if you are the winner!

(If you are the winner and don't include your email in DISQUS, your win will be invalidated.)

Step 3 (optional):  Earn up to six additional entries for the following (leave an extra comment on this post for each action to let us know):

1. Follow ParentMap on Pinterest
2. Like ParentMap on Facebook
3. Follow ParentMap on Twitter
4. Follow Seattle Opera on Facebook
5. Share this post on Facebook
6. Tweet this post on Twitter

This giveaway ends Monday, December 24, at midnight. We will leave a comment reply for the winner before noon on December 25.

Next up in the Big Gift Giveaway: Come back December 25 to enter for your chance to win our grand finale prize: a $2,500 Mexico resort credit!

Pssst...! You really should come back every day to enter the Big Gift giveaway du jour — each eligible daily entry you make during the promotion period (December 1–25) will qualify as an entry in our final grand prize giveaway for the $2,500 Mexico resort credit.  The more you enter, the greater your chances to win! And you did hear it from us.

Good luck!