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Dec 2, 2008 10:57 pm US/Central
Good Question: How Do I Explain Santa's Broke?
(WCCO)
With the economy in recession and jobs in decline, this is also not a great year at the North Pole. How do you tell your children that Santa's struggling financially and there won't be as many gifts under the Christmas tree as there was last year?
"Tell them the truth," said Toni Schutta, a licensed psychologist and founder of Families First Coaching. "What I'd do first is put it in the context of your family. And just to say, 'This year, Mom and Dad don't have as much money as we did last year.'"
Schutta works as a parenting coach, helping parents find solutions to common problems. This year, she said her family is cutting back on Christmas gifts, and so she asked her children to pick out five gifts to put on their Christmas list.
"The criteria: the item had to be on sale," said Schutta.
"Since we are cutting back, they are cutting back. That's something we do as a family," she said.
She added that she believes children are able to process the simple economic message that money is in short supply in the family, and that can extend to Santa without ruining the magic of the North Pole.
"You can have them make a list for Santa ... and you could say 'Just pick out one gift that you would really wish for Santa to bring you.' And you can set criteria, it has to cost less than $20, cause Santa's cutting back a little bit this year too," said Schutta.
Schutta suggested setting clear expectations now, setting spending limits and limits on the number of gifts. She also plans on using creative and inexpensive gifts, like a coupon gift for children that includes coupons for "pick the pizza topping" or "stay up one hour late."
Many parents don't want to burden their children with worries about a tough economic situation, and Schutta said that's a good impulse.
"It's all in how you phrase it. You can use kid language and keep it simple," she said.
If a parent is concerned about being laid off: "If it's just in the tentative stage, I wouldn't worry the kids. But once you do have the pink slip, it's time to have a family meeting," suggested Schutta.
She pointed out that children are generally able to process this information with ease, and said that generally parents worry about this far more than children ever would.
"We have a whole package of anxieties that comes along with not having as much money. And fears and expectations that we're not going to be able to provide for our children," she said.
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