The Madness Continues......: Call from Santa

Christmas Eve my 2nd boy was being NAUGHTY. He was torturing my 3rd, just for fun. He was completely ignoring everything he was told to do, and doing everything he was told NOT to. He was hitting, yelling, whining, and talking back. I told him over, and over, and over that Santa was watching him and wouldn't bring him anything. He acted like he couldn't care less. As we were pulling up to our house (after a horrible trip to Albertsons) so that we could drop off the groceries before going to my Mom's house-I just lost it. I screamed like a banshee that I was absolutely sick of his behavior, and I was going to be calling Santa to tell him to not bring Nick anything. That seemed to hit home, because Nick immediately started crying, and begging me not to. I told him that since he didn't care about his brother crying-I wasn't going to listen to him either. I was definitely calling. I was super mature, I know.

So I went in the house and called my friend Malcolm, who lives in Australia, to see if he could play Santa for me. I couldn't reach him. I stayed in the house and put away the groceries while the kids were in the car because I needed to calm down. Nick came peeking around the corner, to see if I was calling, and was quickly told to get in the car "right now!" After a few minutes I went out to the car, and told them I had left a message with the elves, because Santa was flying and would have to call me back. The kids were all in disbelief.

"Did you really call him?"

"Yes, I did."

"Is he really going to call back?"

"Yes. He is."

"You didn't mention me, did you? Just Nick?"

That was Ben. Making sure he wasn't on Santa's 'S' list. Nice kid.

So we got to my Mom's house, and I sent Malcolm a message on Facebook, but who knows when he would get that. It was Christmas already there, and he had family visiting. So I went on to "Plan B". I told my sister and Mom what I was thinking, and they suggested my brother in law. So I called my sister in Louisiana, but Justin was sleeping (he works nights). Luckily my brother Travis was there and said he would do it.

I told him to tell Nick he was "Very disappointed in him for how he was acting, and how mean he was being to his brother." I said to say that he was "on the naughty list, but that he has one more chance to do better." Santa would be checking in with me sometime during the night, and it would be up to ME if Nick got presents or not. I told him the rest of the kids may want to talk to him, so be prepared. Also throw in some geographical location in, so they would know where Santa was. Then I hung up, and waited a few seconds for him to call back.

When the phone rang, I answered it, and said, "Oh, Hi Santa! Yes, Hold on a second..." turned to Nick, "Uh, oh Nicholas. It's Santa. He wants to talk to you....."

Nick's eyes got huge, and he slowly walked to the phone.

"Hello..." He quietly said into the receiver. He looked at me, to which I shrugged, raised my eyebrows in my best "I tried to tell you..." serious face, and turned and walked into the kitchen. I barely made it in there before I met my mom's gaze, and we both started cracking up.

Travis was very convincing, and firm but kind-just like real Santa would be. Nick won't tell me everything he said, but I pretty much had to pry the phone out of Nick's hands so that the others would have a chance to talk to him. Nathan got on, and was told he was on the "Good" list, and "Santa" sang 'Santa Claus is coming to town' for him.

When I went to hand Ben the phone, he panicked, and was like "Why do I have to talk to him?!? I wasn't bad!!" I almost lost it. I had to try very hard to not crack up as I told him to just talk to him for a second. He was also on the Good list, and was happy afterwards to get to talk to him. My niece Darby listened to him for a second, and then ducked away from the phone. My other niece Kyra, was very serious that she did NOT want to talk to him. I grabbed the phone and told him "Thank you for taking the time to call, because we knew how very busy he was." After saying goodbye, Nick was like "let me see the phone. I want to see the number he called from." Thankfully I know this phone well, and hit delete very quickly. I said he could look if he wanted, but it won't show up because he's magic. Nick was astonished to see that the only number showing up was my home number from when I called to say we were on our way. As he was looking at that, I quickly deleted the number from the other phones as well.

Afterwards, they were all so excited about talking to him. Ben and Nick, who had been questioning his very existence a few weeks earlier, were now 100% sure that they had just talked to the man himself. Nathan, Kyra, and Darby were jumping around, holding hands and singing "I'm on the GOOD list, I'm on the GOOD list." Nick was telling people he was on the Naughty list, and trying to have a brave face, but was really on the verge of tears. (Sometimes you just have to crush their little souls a tiny bit.) Is that completely awful of me to say? I was about to do something physical to him after the day he had put me through, so why not wage some mental warfare?

Ladies and Gentlemen-I am SOOO happy to report that it worked! When I asked them to do something, they jumped up and did it. I had them clean the front room, and they did it without complaint. A first!! There was little to no fighting for the rest of the day. They were cheerful, and helpful right up until bedtime. Nick started acting up a little then, but I think it was just the excitement of Christmas-so I let it go. Santa calling was a brilliant plan, born out of desperation. I am so thankful that my awesome brother was able to pull out his best "Ho, Ho, Ho" deep voice and scare the crap out of Nick so he'd behave.