Teacher Tells Kids: Santa's Not Real

JeanneSager — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:59:00 GMT

Alert NORAD: Santa has been taken down by the substitute teacher at the Blackshaw Lane Primary School in Royton, England. The mean Ms. Grinch told her classroom of seven-year-olds that Father Christmas is a big fat fake.

And parents are complaining about campus security guards stepping in as substitute teachers? The sub told the kids "it's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day," when the class started to get out of control during a discussion about Christmas.

Because this substitute apparently needs a refresher course in how to deal with children, here's a quick lesson. First rule of Santa: Don't talk about Santa (unless you know kids' beliefs). Second rule of Santa: you know how this goes people.

Kids will eventually learn the big guy doesn't exist, and parents everywhere will lose their best-valued fall/winter behavior modification method. Most parents hope for later rather than sooner, and they hope the magic dies accidentally - not via a callous adult who decides she needs to shock some kids. If the kids were being rowdy, whatever happened to the good old-fashioned, "Santa's watching?"

Perhaps I'm just cranky because I remember my Santa dreams being dashed by a teacher too. Lying in the bed in the nurse's office because of a stomach ache, I could clearly hear all the goings on in the main office - linked to our nurse's station via a narrow, open hallway. The gym teacher, father of one of my classmates, was so busy checking his mailbox that he never noticed me lying there while he talked up what he had to do to get things ready for his kids on Christmas morning . . . including his massive production to make Santa "seem real." Wouldn't you know it - I was seven too.

Do you think adults have the right to throw this one at kids?

Image: PBase.com

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Santa Claus Can Call Them For You

JeanneSager — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:56:00 GMT

There's nothing like standing on that long line for the mall Santa, finally getting there, and having your kid reel off his entire list to the big man while a tantrum toddler's screams drown the whole thing out.

The trouble with that unshakeable belief in Santa? They don't need to tell Mom and Dad what they want - "Don't worry Ma, Santa said he'd get it for me." Instead of trying to drag it out of them, a new site lets you order up a Santa call right to your house. Even better? They let you go back in and listen to the whole clip online.

I Am Saint Nick comes from the brains of a dad who was laid off from his job in the tech industry. Matt Steckler opted to harness the new Twilio telephoney technology to have a voice recording of Santa Claus call phone numbers plugged into the site. If the call connects, the recording asks people what they want for Christmas (note to parents: you might want to warn your kids that Santa is a little forgetful . . . and a very busy guy who won't be able to answer questions, the drawback to a machine making the call). After the call ends, the recording is linked to the phone number on the site, allowing anyone who knows your phone number to plug it in and pull up the message.

For parents who are uneasy, the site promises to abide by the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which allows you to listen to your child's message and ask for the recording to be taken down if you feel they divulged too much personal information, Simply send an e-mail their way.

Kids tend to be a little more forthcoming with Santa Claus than they do with Mom and Dad - or even Grandma and Granda, so this could be your best shot at finding out their true heart's desire. And who doesn't like to hear it coming from their sweet little mouths? So set up your call, then send the whole family online to take a listen.

Image: I Am Saint Nick.com

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