My friend Emily said Santa was not some jolly old elf who appeared in the night and left presents under the tree, but was really my father who would crawl out of bed and pull toys from the closet. I suppose I knew Emily was telling the truth, but inside I wanted to believe Santa was real.

It was back when my family and I used to eat dinner around the dining room table that I made the announcement to my parents. “I know the truth about Santa. It’s you, Dad. You’re Santa.” My father put his fork down, placed his hands on the table and sighed. “You’re right, kiddo. I am Santa. And it is extremely exhausting getting up late at night, calling together the reindeer, and hitting every house in the world before daylight. But know that you know, perhaps you’ll go to bed a little faster on Christmas Eve so I can leave the house on time.”

It was not the answer I was expecting, but it was a welcome one. I wasn’t ready to let the mystery of Santa fade so quickly. And while I knew deep down that my father wasn’t Santa to the entire planet, it was nice to know that the magic wasn’t gone.

At some point, all kids whose families practice Santa Claus will question the tradition. So, when is the best time to let your kids in on the big secret?

“There’s really no one right time to tell kids that there’s no Santa Claus,” says Glen Elliott, Ph.D. Elliott is an associate professor and the director of the department of child and adolescent psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, in an interview with CNN. “The important thing is to take your cues from the child, and not try to prolong the fantasy for your own enjoyment when they may be ready to give it up.”

Yeah, maybe so. My son will be 6 this Christmas. He hasn’t questioned Santa, but I’m sure that will change now that he is in school. And when he does begin to question the whole idea, I think I’ll go my father’s route and choose the non-denial denial method.

Post from: Blisstree

When To Tell The Truth About Santa

What do you think about the possibility of your bag of chips, bottle of soda, and plate of store-bought cookies being bulked up with vitamins and minerals? Well in you’re in Canada, this could be coming to a store near you, considering what Health Canada is considering. However, according to articles I’ve been reading, the Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, has put the plans on hold pending further review. A smart move, perhaps?

It seems that some people feel that if people are missing the vitamins and minerals found in a balanced diet and they are going to eat junk food anyway, they might as well benefit from junk food that’s been juiced up with those missing vitamins and minerals. Of course, we’ll just ignore the fact that these same foods are high in fat and sugar, as well as other nasty stuff. So, if people eat fortified junk food, they may be people with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes, but they’ll have all their vitamin requirements met.

Then again, this could be a good thing for Santa on Christmas eve. Mrs. Claus can’t object to Santa eating all those cookies left for him if they’re packed with good stuff too.

If you’d like to read the proposed policy, just go to the Food Fortification Proposed Policy, Q & A .

I’m still shaking my head…

~~~~~

Images: Stock.xchng

Post from: Blisstree

Fortifying Junk Food With Vitamins???

Because Christmas books are popular and Christmas one of the highly celebrated holidays, it makes sense, if someone wants to promote a book, to do it under the guise of it being a fun little Christmas story.

A recent story at Fox News, Children’s Books Use Christmas to Push Global Warming Agenda, highlights the pros and cons of this strategy, the fact that there are proponents and opponents of these books and the stories they tell.

• Where do you stand on this issue? 
• Is Christmas the time to air these agendas?
• Did you buy these books for your children for Christmas?

Post from: Blisstree

Is Christmas Being Undermined to Push Global Warming Agenda?