Father Christmas will not come if you are naughty.
A threat made by many parents but never followed through – until now that is.
A couple in the US, have decided to teach their three young boys aged 11, 8 and 5 a life lesson by cancelling the big day.
John and Lisa Henderson, from Hurricane, Utah, say the move follows months of disrespectful behaviour from their children.
“We gave them good warning, either it was time for their behaviour to change or there would be consequences.”
Lisa who wrote a blog post on Over the Big Moon added: “We patiently worked with them for several months and guess what, very little changed.”
Is it courageous parenting to actually follow through with such a threat?
The Henderson’s are hoping to the boys will learn a more valuable lesson by making the move: “We are trying to teach them the pleasure of giving rather than continuing to feed their childhood desire for more.”
Since announcing there would be no Christmas, Lisa says she is proud of how quickly they learned to embrace the joy of giving: “They have reacted by making gifts for each other and sneaking them into each other’s stockings”.
It is a move that will see the Henderson family have no visit from Father Christmas and no stockings or presents.
Many people have criticised the family for their decision, with some people calling them ‘mean parents’, ‘lazy’ and ‘scrooge’ like.
Remember the saying ‘actions speak louder than words’.
It is important for parents to feel empowered by making such decisions especially when it comes to teaching children valuable life lessons.
In terms of cancelling Christmas, it is a drastic decision for a family to make.
In this case the Henderson’s claim their children are learning about the true meaning of Christmas.
