Because of technology, we can now not only track Santa Claus as he circles the Earth, we can get personalized video messages from him and even iPhone updates to know whether we’ve moved from his naughty list to his nice list. Seems like a good idea, doesn’t it? Ever since Reagan has been old enough to know who Santa Claus is (just last year), we’ve been utilizing such technology to not only keep the magic alive, but also in that desperate attempt we all have as parents to encourage our children to behave if only just for one month of the year. But, what happens if they don’t?
For my parents, there was never any proof of which list I was on, so for all I knew, Santa had decided I was more nice than naughty and I got my presents Christmas morning. But, Reagan, and other children of the information age, are given actual PROOF of where they lie in Santa’s estimation.
Here is the video Santa sent Reagan just days before Christmas, letting her know she still has time to get on the nice list.
And then, there’s the old/new tradition just now becoming popular of the Elf on the Shelf. Last year, we introduced our own elf, because he was cuter and less expensive than the commercially-packaged one some smart housewife came up with a few years ago. And this year, he had a little helper join him. Because Reagan is such a handful, as I tell her, she needs TWO elves. She named her elves Chippy and Snowflake after the elves from the new Elf on the Shelf Christmas TV special that came out this year. Boy, is that woman building an empire.
Every day when Reagan would misbehave, I would ask her, “what do you think Snowflake (or Chippy) is going to have to tell Santa when she reports back to him tonight?”
“That I’m naughty,” she would sheepishly reply.
So, after daily reportings from the elves and a video from Santa saying Reagan is on the naughty list, what is a mom to do when Christmas Eve rolls around? Does Santa show up anyway? And, what does that teach my kid about consequences? And, why should she bother to behave at all next year if Santa’s going to give her presents anyway? That was the predicament I found myself in.
I was torn. Should Santa bring her the one thing she had been asking for since last Christmas and her birthday and asked for again this year – The Tangled Fairytale Tower? She had already opened all her other gifts from us and family, the only thing left to give on Christmas was what Santa would bring. Should I have Santa skip our house and leave Reagan with nothing new to find come Christmas morning? How damaging would that be to her little psyche. Would she think she was the only one Santa skipped?
After an entire night of going back and forth, I did the only thing I knew to do. I prayed for an answer. And immediately afterward, it came to me.
Santa would come, and leave Reagan a letter. The letter said, she was a very lucky girl. That even though she was on Santa’s naughty list, Santa knew she was really a good girl who just needed more rules. So, he decided to bring her her tower, and give her Mommy a list of 10 ways she could earn time to play with it every day.
Surprisingly, Reagan had no problem with the conditions Santa gave her. She was just happy to finally get her tower! She has yet to earn time to play with it, but managed to play with it anyway this morning while I slept in and Daddy was in charge.
Can I get another elf to watch over Daddy?
Great solution!
I cheated to keep the magic alive this year… With a child who desperately wanted to believe in Santa still despite a callous classmate with an older sister. I devised a plan. I’ve been saying No to the question “can I where deodorant?” for over a year and a half – since another poorly parented 6 y.o. in the theater used it. So amidst all the stuff that should’ve been there in the stocking, there was a small, travel size bottle of secret – the baby powder scent. When it came out of the stocking I went in full on disapproval mode. I said that I make the rules in my house – maybe Santa thought she was mature enough to follow them, but we’d see. No more than 1x a week. Must be washed off (bath or shower) that day. Any kvetching, I can withhold. Too much and in the trash it goes.
Turns out the obvious power struggle between Santa and. Mommy is now established (that’ll pay him for taking credit all the time) No way mommy was going to break (giggle)
So now we have a post-Christmas setup. Behavior equals either punishment or reward past the guy in the suit dropping by.
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Haha! Very clever, Lucretia! It’s never cheating however we keep the magic alive – it’s all necessary as I see it. I LOVE your idea! I think I may need to implement it when the request to shave or use eye makeup inevitably comes up because of some parent’s reasoning that their little girl is grown up enough to use adult products.
I have to say, I love being able to say, “This is what Santa said you need to do…” Sad that Santa has more power than I do over my kid, but I’ll use it!
I think that you found a great solution!
I was nearly faced with the same problem this year, my 5 year old son was being so off the wall hyper that I finally sent him the naughty video from Santa and immediately regretted it! He watched in horror as Santa let him know that he was on the “naughty list,” and then he sat silently for a minute or two after the video. I finally asked him “So, buddy, what do you think?” and he started wailing, I felt like the worst mom on Earth! I had vowed to never threaten with Santa, but hey, that was before I was actually a mom and had to face bad behavior! Either way, he was good the rest of the day and Christmas was the following day, so the fat man (or woman in this case) showed up
Hi. Just read your review of the Soy pudding on Ron and Lisa’s Blog. Please read the articles about soy on http://www.mercola.com and be surprised that soy is not all it is made up to be. Just fyi.
Ooooohhhhh… it’s so hard. These are the things that aren’t in the instruction manual!! Oh… there is no instruction manual, huh?
We love our elf, and bought a different one, as well. The popular one is scary to me. It’s worth it to see the excitement in the little one’s eyes and even my older son gets excited to hide it for the younger one.
This year, we had a first. Michael (the 11yo) looked at the search history on my iPhone and found one of his gifts. Ten years ago, I would never have believed that would be an issue!!
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