Santa Claus ???

I don't do Santa, and here's why.....(I have in the past, and it just doesn't feel right)

It is confusing and disappointing when you become older and realize that it is fictitious. There will be enough disappointment that occurs naturally throughout their lives without me willingly creating another one for them.

I wrap gifts when I purchase them and put them under the tree...now THAT is exciting....shaking, wondering, guessing for weeks. Hiding gifts is a hassle and wrapping 5000 things on Christmas Eve makes me have a very-not-merry Christmas.

Planning, picking out, and shopping for gifts for my children is so very special. Purchasing them costs FAMILY money. I am not giving all of the credit for that to some fat, jolly dude in a red suit who is NEVER here for the hard times or the good times.


I refuse to threaten and scare my children with naughty or nice. I give them gifts for Christmas because I love them and I want to, no matter what challenges they face during the year..... """It is so sad when parents threaten kids into obedience by telling them Santa won't bring them gifts if they are "bad". What a sad, culturally ingrained manipulation that sucks the Joy out of a holiday that is supposed to be pure and magical. ☼" ~ Dayna Martin


It's really unreasonable to expect your children to be nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums dance in their heads...if a stranger is expected to sneak in the house in the middle of the night...that's just creepy! It's not okay for anyone to enter our home in the middle of the night while we are sleeping. If we let Santa do it, who else might show up? Superman? A Smurf? The Wicked Witch of the West? No honey, only Santa is allowed...what a perfect disguise for a child molester! Santa is allowed and trusted, and I had better be "nice"!  

My kids are still crazy excited over Christmas WITHOUT the element of bullshit. They STILL enjoy Christmas movies and books with Santas, but are able to accept Santa for the fictitious character that he is, right along with Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. We still leave cookies and milk out, just for the novelty of it. They really don't give a shit that I didn't play the game with them. (I DO eat the cookies and drink the milk, and they are well aware that I did it, and not some home invader.)

The pics I DO have of my kiddos sitting on Santa's lap are cute, because my kiddos are cute. But I could just slap myself for making them do it. It was NEVER an idea of theirs to do it. They don't want to stand in that line any more than you do. Some are so afraid, they even cry. Forcing your children to pose on a strangers lap, and making them tell the stranger their desires, is just contrary to everything else we try to instill in them. 


If you have decided to lie to your kids and play the exhausting game of Santa Claus, do not hold me and my kids responsible for maintaining your lie. I won't ask my children to lie for anyone.

November 9, 2010

Today was a full day. The boys and I picked up a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks and headed over to the Scout Store in Charlotte to purchase Sam's very first pocket knife. Then we headed to Earth Fare to knock out our grocery list and talk about Health & Nutrition. The boys were so excited that Issue 3 of Earth Fare Itty Bitty Bites Comic Book is now out! This one introduces Artificial Artie in "Intentionally Deficit." So far we have covered Trans Fat Tina and High Fructose Fred. Sam asked me to turn the music off when we got back in the car, and he read the comic all the way through. These comics are so witty and give "bad stuff" a good slam, for 35 cents an issue. Love them. I was excited to find Tom Kha Phak Thai Coconut in Amy's Soups. Can't wait to try it.

We met some of our friends at Historic Brattonsville and took a nice tour. Brattonsville has a really neat Gift Shop, and every time I turned around my boys were sneaking back in it. Josiah chose a slate, and he wrote on it all the way to soccer. How do you spell this? How do you spell that? His letters look great, and he has never "practiced" handwriting. I love to see him so excited over reading and writing, watching him be excited about discovering it all on his own. Every time we are in a restaurant, he has the kiddie mat flipped over writing "words", and last night, we had to ask for extras. Back to Brattonsville... I really enjoy the old structures, the trails, the trees, the leaves, and the sky. The door to the kid's room upstairs kept closing by itself! I must add, I only tripped ONCE in my Skechers Shape Ups...YAY!

We had our last soccer game tonight. This has been a tough season for the kiddos. We have majority "never played before 8 & 9 year olds." We have had a lot of kiddos missing games, and when your strong players are not there, you are in trouble. There have been a lot of improvements individually, and I am happy that we have the opportunity to teach some skills to kiddos who want to try out soccer. I do get frustrated seeing the same coach in the league getting the same kiddos every season, majority experienced, when everything is supposed to be a mix. I get frustrated with the soccer parents and the coaches who model and encourage poor sportsmanship. I am super proud of Sam, who, in his third season of playing ever, is really starting to get his game on. He normally plays Fullback, and the last few games, no one has been able to get past him on the field. For the last game, the keeper has been begging to get out of the goal and run, and Sam has been begging to play keeper, so Mike let them switch. Mike was really impressed with him and suggested he pursue keeper next season. He was really aggressive with going after the ball. He lunged for it, jumped in the air for it, dove for it. Have you ever seen an ADHD, unmedicated, 8 year old play keeper? This is Sam...when the ball is being played away from the goal, he is turning cartwheels, spinning around, looking at the game behind us, etc....we will need to work on that next season....lol..I think the director of the program, Leslie, sucks, and I am not far from letting her know with specifics. I am really bummed that I screwed up our team's trophies, my Facebook post, as I am too lazy to re-type/tell the story:  

"We have had a lot going on. I dropped the ball on something, actually, I completely forgot all about it. I then tried to do it at the last minute, delegated some of it to Mike without clear instructions, and it got really effed up, namely, ...our soccer team's trophies. Our soccer team has not had a "winning" season, although, individually there have been major improvements. To top it off, we had to play an asshole team tonight for our last game. Then we handed out trophies, and Sam's like, "Hey! Why do these have Coke on them?" They had our team name from 3 seasons ago engraved on them. The last thing these kiddos needed were effed up trophies. I didn't even check them when I picked them up. I could have done better for them. I SUCK."

After soccer, we had cub scouts, which was super exciting! They did Pocket Knife Safety and Use. I have never seen a group of 8 year old boys more attentive. They got their little certification cards. They carved on a soap bear. Sam was so excited. He tried to sneak his pocket knife in the tub with him later, I suspect he was planning on carving some soap! ROFLOL...