Community Corner

Santa Claus Caught Red Handed

Parents can provide evidence that Santa is real.

Disclaimer: If you are a child and you read this post then you will placed on Santa's naughty list and get a lump of coal for Christmas. This is super secret grown up stuff so you better get off your mom or dad's computer.

Whew, that was a close one! Christmas is just around the corner and my three-year-old is already going nuts for Santa Claus. If we happen to be at the mall, my little one makes a mad dash to find Santa, sitting on his throne among the fake snow and cranky helpers in elf outfits, and to give the old boy a hug.

He loves the jolly guy.

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If ever there was a time for me to play up the whole Santa Claus thing, now would be it. With the advancement of technology, kids these days can be presented with more than enough proof that Santa is indeed real. 

Gone are the days of simply finding a half eaten cookie on a plate that you left out with a glass of milk on Christmas Eve for Santa. That's not real proof. Children want hard evidence and I'm here to tell you how to give it to them.

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One ingenious idea is Capture The Magic of Santa. You simply upload a photo of your living room, and with a little computer magic, you can superimpose Santa Claus into your home. Your kids will be blown away when they see a real picture of Santa unloading gifts from his bag or crawling out of your chimney. They will think that you are the sneakiest parent ever for capturing that image.

There are a few options out there if you want to get a phone call from Santa. If your kids are acting naughty and you're feeling especially sly, you can download the free app, Fake Call From Santa. You will get a call with Santa's name on the caller ID and an incoming call with no voice on the line so you can have a pretend conversation with Santa about how naughty your kids are acting.

Parents Calling Santa is another app, that gives parents the option of selecting three calls that Santa can make. The calls are “well done,” “could do better,” or “must improve or you will get a lump of coal for Christmas.” The third app is Santa’s Christmas Naughty or Nice and lets parents take a photo of the child and decide if it pops up under the naughty or nice list.

For the believer that can read, be sure to take advantage of the Postal Service's offer for a North Pole postmark. Purchase stamps at any post office, affix the stamps to envelopes of your choice, address the sealed envelopes (with the cards enclosed) to those on your mailing list, and mail them in a larger envelope, box, Priority Mail or Express Mail package to Anchorage, Alaska by December 10. Your little one will be thrilled to get a real letter from Santa himself!

Starting on December 1, NORAD will start the countdown to Christmas Eve when they will track Santa's sleigh as it travels all over the world, delivering presents to all the good boys and girls. My 7-year-old was totally mystified by this last Christmas.

Kids are ripe for Christmas magic for very few years of their childhood so I love preserving and nourishing the idea of Santa Claus for my children (even though my oldest is no longer a believer). Who knows, by the time I offer him all this proof, I may make a believer out of him once again.

Do your children believe in Santa Claus? What traditions does your family have to keep their belief alive? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.


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