When Shawn Joaquin wakes us for the fifth time in the darkest hour of any night, we invoke the name of Santa: "Do you think Santa thinks that waking up your parents means you're being a GOOD boy or a BAD boy? What happens if you're not a GOOD boy?" With a whimper and a mumbled "I want presents" Shawn Joaquin shuffles back to bed.
When Shawn Joaquin runs away from us and laughs to avoid any discipline, we have only to say "Santa is watching" to stop him dead in his tracks. When he is clearly wrestling with whether to smack his sister in the middle of her back or kiss her gently on the head, we simply say "What would Santa do?"
We know that the years are limited in which the invocation of Santa will be so powerful, and we are determined to make full use of them. Just last night the Power of Santa compelled Shawn Joaquin to fetch a beer for Gregg, to wipe his own bottom thoroughly and with gusto, and to finish his salad and pasta before leaving the table. Santa has helped him dress with fewer tears in the morning, get out of bed slightly less in the middle of the night, and to be exponentially more helpful in general.
While we are trying to remind the kids that Christmas is about giving and about taking care of our family, friends and even strangers who might not have the wealth that we have — well beyond the financial, with health, love and security as critical elements of our well-being — we have been grateful to have the lure of Christmas morning greed to drive better behavior, even if only for a few weeks. So for now we say thanks, fat guy. We raise our sugar cookies to you. Then it's back to the wails, crying and tantrums that have marked this winter of our discontent....and Shawn Joaquin may even shed a tear or two of his own.
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