My daughter’s preschool has a lovely little Christmas tradition. Every year, at the school Christmas party, after the show where the kids sing carols and hold a nativity play ( my little one was Mary last year, and played the part so seriously – adorable!), Santa Claus himself comes to visit.
Its a huge surprise and thrill for the kids, and best of all, “jolly old Saint Nick” comes complete with a big sack of toys (pre-bought by the parents) for all the children. He then goes through his list (its a pretty small school, so this thankfully doesnt take too long), calling each child’s name and the talking about the times they were “naughty” or “nice” – followed by the present. Great for some positive reinforcement for the year ahead, don’t you think?
There’s a set price for all the presents, and the kids always come out happy, if a little peevish that Santa really did know what they were up to this year. Tomorrow, I give my daughter’s “naughty and nice” list in for Santa’s review, in time for the school party on Friday.
Naughty
Hitting her brother (she whacked him very hard on the forehead the other day, causing a nasty goose egg – apparently because he hit her with a block first)
Hitting and kicking her nanny (I swear, she really isnt a monster-child, but has put our nanny in tears because of some very aggressive behaviour).
Nice
Being a good Big Sister – Despite hitting her baby brother on rare occassions (ok, maybe 3x a week), there have been more times when she’s been really very sweet to him, especially when we went on our family holiday recently, where she looked after him quite a lot.
Sharing and Giving her Toys Away – A few times a year, I like to put aside a lot of their old toys that they don’t really play with anymore and fill a few bags to give away to needy children. She actually enjoys doing this and it makes me so proud to see her empathy and generosity (even when she wants to give away the very expensive Bratz doll we just bought last month!) to kids in need.
[tags]Christmas, Holidays, School, naughty or nice list, Santa[/tags]
Originally posted on December 11, 2006 @ 9:41 pm
