Every December, all around the nation, you can find pants hanging from telephone wires. They are bursting into flames as we speak! They belong to us parents. Am I judging? Heck no! My pants are warm as I type, but that may just be friction from my morning walk earlier. (No, thigh gap here.)
Why do I do the Santa thing? Well, if you have an intrinsically motivated child, good for you. Mine is eight years old and he is motivated by toys. Maybe it is the autism, or maybe it is the fact that he is eight years old. Whatever the reason, Santa allows me the most peaceful month of the year. In addition, I will use the excuse that we are working on our letter writing skills. It’s educational as well as hilarious. These are some gems from years gone by, starting with my favorite.
Dear Santa, I am sorry. Love Colin
No request, just truth. I like it.
Dear Santa, I was better today than yesterday. I even got Pokemon cards. You also can give me some. From Colin
Because showing improvement is a good thing, as are Pokemon cards.
Ok, so I may get a little carried away. I set up automatic emails for him to receive upon acting up…
Dear Colin, It seems that you were disrespectful to your bus driver. I hope that this behavior does not continue. Otherwise, you will be added to the naughty list. Now go clean your room. Sincerely, Santa P.S Christmas is only 13 days away. Straighten up, young man.
There may also be one about offenses that will land you on the probationary list, but you get the idea. I must admit that I am very impressed with this year’s contribution. I set him up with Google docs and told him to write his letter, promising to print it when he finished. About 15 minutes later, he came out with this printed. He even did a search for the picture and inserted it into the post. I didn’t know he knew how to do that. This is what proper motivation will do for you. Time to up my security. And, yes, that does say 47 fortune cookies.
Dear Santa, I really love fortune cookies. They are cookies that have fortunes in them. You can read the fortune when you feel the fortune. Because they are paper, you will be surprised. So, I would really want you to give me 47 fortune cookies. Sincerely, Colin
Now that I think about it, who am I to call Santa a lie? We grown ups think that we are so smart. Children are the ones holding on to magic, maybe they have it all figured out. After all, every Christmas my stocking is full of fancy bubble bath. I always assumed it was my husband, but maybe Santa is the one trying to see me naked. I do like a man with a beard…