Santa's Watching

The joy of Christmas.
The joy of the "Santa Claus" mystique.
The childhood illusion of what we come to expect this time of year annually has been passed from generation to generation to generation.
It's not just a part of our childhood (and later parenthood), it's one hell of an effective behavior modification tool.
Our three-year-old daughter is really into Christmas this year.  So much so that she understands the whole "Santa's watching" concept.
And we do exploit that.
My wife Margie recently bought one of those "Elf on a Shelf" dolls.  You put them in a different place each day and out of the child's reach.  So they know that Santa (in this case, his designee) is always watching.
Always.
ALWAYS.
ALWAYS.
To encourage Savannah that she had an important role in this elf's existence in the house, we asked her to pick a name for the elf.
"Rachel".
We were a little surprised by that one.  But hey, who said elves have to be male, right?
So our elf became Rachel.
Not that our daughter is a problem child by any means, but at any time she would act out of the boundaries we set for her, we would tell her "Rachel's watching".
It worked.  To her, Rachel was a papal bull.
The presence of presents is all contingent on her good behavior.
Of course, we try to emphasize to her the real reason behind the season.
The season of giving.
The generosity of spirit, not just material possessions.
And may we all learn a lesson from it this time of year.
And year-round.



"Old School Dad" will be on hiatus until Sunday, January 6th.