elkclan wrote:
Who are the rotten kids who are spoiling the fun of Santa? Who are the rotten parents who aren't telling them not to?
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And what is Elf on the Shelf?
I don't think it makes a child a "rotten kid." It depends on the reason. Some kids do it to be nasty and to show the other child up as immature, naive and ignorant, but this is not necessarily so. Some kids think of it as a truth-telling thing. Some kids come from a different cultural tradition and don't feel they should have to play along. They aren't going to view it as an adult would and may or not check with their parents before sharing, I don't know that it is every parent's responsibility to proactively forestall that by telling their kids to keep it a secret. I don't think kids would necessarily listen, either.
Disclaimer: I was one of those "rotten" kids and I really did not look at it spoiling other kids' fun. My parents did not believe in teaching about Santa and honestly were probably annoyed about having to explain it when I asked them about it, wanting to know why Santa did not bring me anything.
They were, I would guess, more focused on that then worrying about safeguarding other people's deal. I am not saying it was a great way of looking at it. Naturally, they should have figured I would be exposed to Santa, and should have been prepared with something.
We do Santa here, and while I would have been disappointed if the fun was truncated, I really would not have been pissed at the kid who told him, unless it was otherwise connected to being picked on for being immature. That may just be because of my own personal background, though.
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"Elf on a Shelf is a toy/book product where you put the toy elf on a mantle or shelf so it can report to Santa if your kid/s are good or not. I think people use it to motivate good behavior. We did not do that, but it is pretty popular.
I remember when I told my mom about Santa not being real, she told me to not tell my brothers or it will upset them and she told me to not ever tell the other kids at school or it will upset them and not tell any other kids or it will upset them.
If it's hadn't told me this, I may have gone around telling others because I would have thought they would be happy to hear he isn't real because it would explain the mistakes Santa did and why they didn't always get what they wanted for Christmas. I would have assumed they would have felt the same way I felt and then not understand why they are so upset.
30 Nov 2014, 12:39 pm
