Christmas Brainwashing

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by Saltmeister

My mother started instructing me to pray to God when I was in prep, aged 6.

*content sigh* Pushy parents pressuring their children.. Such..... Beauty?

[Dondi]

Originally Posted by Saltmeister

What about the presents? Did they put them there eventually? Before you woke?

It didn't sound to me like they blew their cover. Maybe Santa was just a little late? Could Santa have come later to clean up the mess?

Oh, yes, they put the presents out in the morning, but upon much reflection I pretty much figured it out. For one, I noticed that Santa's handwriting bore an uncanny resemblance to my Dad's. Confronting my older sister about the issue confirmed the issue.

Originally Posted by Saltmeister

I still don't get presents. My family doesn't have much of a tradition of giving presents, so I don't expect any presents. I may give and get presents outside my family, but I don't expect any exchanges inside the family. It's only because I expect people outside my family to be giving and getting presents, not because I personally want one.

Wow. I'm really sorry about that. I feel for you, my friend.

I know this isn't much, but it's the best I can do. I give it in the spirit in which I received it, with thanks to God for the greatest gift of all:

~ The Greatest Gift ~

Merry Christmas, Saltmeister!

Love & Peace,

Dondi

[wil]

I got a lump of coal one year. Good size lump, about 7"x4x5. That was it.

Can't remember which year. 4th or 5th grade. I was warned, repeatedly, Santa knows whose been bad or good. So I got some presents from my sisters, parents and grandparents, but nothing from Santa 'cept a lump of coal in my stocking.

Pissed off my parents I think completely. I thought it was cool, received it with pride, put it on my shelf with baseball and bowling trophies, gave it a place of honor.

Friends at school couldn't believe it, lot of people since couldn't believe it. But I was warned, if your not good, Santa won't bring you anything but a lump of coal. I was a problem at the time, it didn't fix it. Lucky for me Ritalin wasn't all that popular yet...

[Saltmeister]

Originally Posted by Dondi

Oh, yes, they put the presents out in the morning, but upon much reflection I pretty much figured it out. For one, I noticed that Santa's handwriting bore an uncanny resemblance to my Dad's. Confronting my older sister about the issue confirmed the issue.

You were 10? Mum and Dad did pretty well keeping it up. It could have been 11. Or even 12.

What do you think now about Mum and Dad screwing up? What if Mum didn't cry?

Just wondering too -- was she crying about the broken ornaments or the fact that you "found out" (potentially)? Or maybe Mum and Dad had a disagreement the night before, Mum and Dad were going through a tough time emotionally and what basically happened ruined their/your Christmas? Or perhaps they were stressed because of financial problems . . . Dad was broke, no job . . . Was that what blew the secret? The showing of emotion gave away the fact that it was your parents all along, working hard to give you the best Christmas you could ever dream of, every time? Dondi, we're sorry, it was really us all along? We just wanted you to be happy?

That must have blown the Santa dream cloud away. They spent 5-10 years working their Santa magic only to give it all away that they worked hard to make it look real.

Did you ever ask why she cried (if you were curious)?

Originally Posted by Dondi

Wow. I'm really sorry about that. I feel for you, my friend.

I know this isn't much, but it's the best I can do. I give it in the spirit in which I received it, with thanks to God for the greatest gift of all:

~ The Greatest Gift ~

Merry Christmas, Saltmeister!

Thanks.

While it wasn't a present wrapped in a box, it was nice of you to share something with me. The music didn't blow me away but it's at least a break from the boring hum-drum of life. Better too than waking up knowing I've got work to do. Plus most of the music I normally hear doesn't help much anyway.

Merry Xmas to you too!!!

[InLove]

There's an old song--"I'm just an old lump of coal, but I'm gonna be a diamond someday..."

I looked around for a picture of a lump of coal, wil, but I couldn't find one. Maybe you still have the original?

Anyway--it is the thought that counts, right?

Enjoy the Holy Days!

InPeace,
InLove

[Dondi]

Originally Posted by Saltmeister

You were 10? Mum and Dad did pretty well keeping it up. It could have been 11. Or even 12.

What do you think now about Mum and Dad screwing up? What if Mum didn't cry?

Just wondering too -- was she crying about the broken ornaments or the fact that you "found out" (potentially)? Or maybe Mum and Dad had a disagreement the night before, Mum and Dad were going through a tough time emotionally and what basically happened ruined their/your Christmas? Or perhaps they were stressed because of financial problems . . . Dad was broke, no job . . . Was that what blew the secret? The showing of emotion gave away the fact that it was your parents all along, working hard to give you the best Christmas you could ever dream of, every time? Dondi, we're sorry, it was really us all along? We just wanted you to be happy?

That must have blown the Santa dream cloud away. They spent 5-10 years working their Santa magic only to give it all away that they worked hard to make it look real.

Did you ever ask why she cried (if you were curious)?

Originally Posted by Dondi

Did I mention that I was a hyperactive kid, attemptively tamed on Ritalin?

This should have given you a clue.

I wasn't a bad kid, I just got into things and made a mess of things. My Mom cried because this was just one of a long list of things she had to put up with me in trying to control a hyperactive kid. I trashed the tree, and that, coupled with the fact that it was the midle of the night, was too much for her. I cried because I caused her to cry.

The morning was great, though. We had a nice Christmas and has a traditional Christmas breakfast. To my gracious Mom, it was like the night before never happened.

No, the reason I stopped believing in Santa is because while Santa was reliable up until that time in delvering gifts, as my nightime venture proved, the fact that he missed his cue that time got me to wondering. My Mom didn't even tell me they were Santa Claus. I just started adding two and two together. I asked my sister quite bluntly if Santa Claus was real or if it was our parents, and she told me the truth. I might of been a bit disappointed, but I actually became more appreciative of my parents, and from then on, I thanked them rather than thanking a fictional character.

Of course, I was careful not to blow it for my younger brother, who still sought to catch a glimpse of the reindeer-driven sleigh.

[Jack Halyard]

"Wait just a minute!" he says (making sure there are no impressionable youngsters in the room). "You mean there really is no Santa Claus?"

[wil]

Originally Posted by Jack Halyard

"Wait just a minute!" he says (making sure there are no impressionable youngsters in the room). "You mean there really is no Santa Claus?"

Oh ye of little faith, haven't you read the books? Of course there is don't listen to the heretics and cults, you have to believe.

[Dondi]

Originally Posted by Jack Halyard

"Wait just a minute!" he says (making sure there are no impressionable youngsters in the room). "You mean there really is no Santa Claus?"

Is your name Virginia?

[Quahom1]

What is the difference between three magi dressed in colorful robes, coming from afar and away (totally unexpectedly) to bring gifts to the newborn child, and and a jolly old magic man dressed in colorful robes, coming from afar and away (totally unexpectedly) to bring gifts to the young and young of heart?

As Christians, we carry the Spirit of Christ within us, why can't we carry the spirit of Christmas (in the guise of a wise gift giver) within us as well?

Why ruin a young child's imagination and wonder at the mystery of the season? They grow up too fast as it is.

I did what my grandparents and parents did. Put the kids off to bed, threw the rope over the roof of the house with sleigh bells tied to the end, took an old set of boots with worn soles and coated the bottoms with fire place soot and "walked a path" on the floor from the fireplace to the tree, to the cookies and milk, then back to the fireplace. Hid the boots in the cellar, then went outside and shook the sleigh bells and dragged them across the roof, threw rocks and pebbles on the roof, then dragged the sleigh bells again after awhile and finally shook the bells ligther and lighter until they sounded like they went away in the distance...

Of course we didn't do the "sleight of hand" each year until well after midnight mass (so the kids were good and sleepy, so everything was dream like, then re-inforced with the "evidence" left behind in the morning).

The boys believed it until about 8, then simply enjoyed it until about 12. They were willing to suspend belief, because of the magical moment it presented. Plus the gift of giving is very real and in the spirit of the Saints that Santa Claus mythology is composed of (who really did act like the selfless old elf).

If that is "brainwashing", then so is every fable we read to them, and every nursery rhyme we sing to them.

The spirit of Christmas is to teach people to give of themselves to others, to go out of their way for others, to deny self in defference to others. Santa Claus is the epitome of that spirit and leads children (and some adults), to the truth of Jesus' gift to all of us.

I don't mind that kind of "brainwashing" at all...

v/r

Joshua

[Saltmeister]

Originally Posted by 17th Angel

*content sigh* Pushy parents pressuring their children.. Such..... Beauty?

I was pushed . . . but not forced . . .

I'm glad my mother did it. I don't think I would have appreciated Christianity for what it was if she didn't do it.

Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind . . . not that I had a cruel mother.

[Jack Halyard]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

Why ruin a young child's imagination and wonder at the mystery of the season? They grow up too fast as it is.

Hear hear, Josh.

[Faithfulservant]

Originally Posted by Dondi

Oh, yes, they put the presents out in the morning, but upon much reflection I pretty much figured it out. For one, I noticed that Santa's handwriting bore an uncanny resemblance to my Dad's. Confronting my older sister about the issue confirmed the issue.




Dondi

Haha thats how my oldest figured me out.. santas handwriting looked like mine... and one year I got sloppy and used the same wrapping paper that Santa used the year before :P She didnt reveal to me till a few years later that she knew santa wasnt real.. so she let me continue the fun of creating the mystery and she continued to pretend to believe because it was fun.. now my 4yo keeps asking everyday when is santa going to bring him presents.. so it begins all over again and this time my daughter gets to help feeding the mystery..

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

Haha thats how my oldest figured me out.. santas handwriting looked like mine... and one year I got sloppy and used the same wrapping paper that Santa used the year before :P She didnt reveal to me till a few years later that she knew santa wasnt real.. so she let me continue the fun of creating the mystery and she continued to pretend to believe because it was fun.. now my 4yo keeps asking everyday when is santa going to bring him presents.. so it begins all over again and this time my daughter gets to help feeding the mystery..

That's why you're supposed to write the letters in the opposite hand (didn't they teach you that in Santa Claus 101?

[InLove]

Here's a heads up--apparently, Rudolph digs green onions. He ate them every year at my house. I don't remember how we discovered that, but I think my dad might be a reindeer whisperer.

I'm a little worried about old Rudolph this year, though, what with the recent e.coli green onion cases.

InPeace,
InLove