I used to love the time when I could start telling the kids they better be good because Santa was watching them.
Well that just doesn’t work on my kids anymore because they know the secret behind the jolly man in the suit. Shhh. There are no more threats in this house.
And frankly, it’s driving me crazy.
In fact, today it was raining, and my 14-year-old and 10-year-old boys thought it would be a riot to jump in the puddles with their shoes on. This is something that I would think 5- and 7-year-olds would do, and get away with.
I was like, WHAT? Were they really doing THIS? I wanted to scream. I was frustrated, tired, annoyed. They’re old enough to know better. I can’t even threaten them with the, “You better watch out, Santa’s watching!” because now they know he’s not really watching.
Then I thought, Hey, they’re just kids still, and they’re excited about the approaching holidays. And we’ve had a tough few days with the news of my grandmother passing away. Maybe they just want to be kids for a while longer. Maybe they’re just trying to enjoy themselves and not think of the sad stuff that’s been going on.
If you’re wondering if I joined them in the puddles, I didn’t jump in and splash around after my revelation. But I did think that I wished my adult worries would disappear for a little while, and I could think like a kid for a little bit.
And I stopped yelling so much and focused on what this season is all about.
