It works pretty much exactly the way you’d expect — your kid freaks out, you play a personalized message for him or her from Santa Claus telling him “that he or she needs to listen to Mommy or Daddy in that gentle way that only Santa can deliver” (as KCTV News describes it). And that’s all you really need to know about Santa’s Watching, except I feel obliged to include the company’s description here because for some reason I find it really, really funny: Sure, we’ve all been there. We haven’t all immediately considered threatening our kids with a crappy, gift-less Christmas in that moment, however. But let’s say that playing the Santa card in a discipline crisis is your thing. What can parents who use this app expect to happen next? Watch your child’s light up with amazement … or abject terror? Santa really is watching all the time. It sounds like the tag line for a holiday horror movie, doesn’t it? (In fact, I feel like that new scary Santa movie Krampus actually is using that line in the trailer, or something pretty close to it.) And sure, I guess fear is as effective a method as any to convince a small child to “instantly improve” his behavior, but does that mean it’s a good idea? More from The Stir: ‘Elf on the Shelf’ Is the Real Nightmare Before Christmas Look, I’m not judging parents who use Santa and/or his cohorts as a way to make kids behave during the holidays — I’m quite certain I’ve pulled the “Santa’s watching” thing at least once or twice in my parenting career, in moments of sheer exhaustion/desperation, but overall I really do think that Santa should be presented as a jovial, harmless sort of character, not some sort of toy-withholding moral authority. And yes, I get that Santa’s supposed to have his list, and kids are supposed to be striving toward being nice, not naughty … but can’t we just mention that in a couple of songs and let it go? Must we drive the point home with apps and creepy dolls? Christmas is supposed to be fun. About love and being happy and festive and spending time with loved ones … not being monitored at all times by some old pipe-smoking freak with the ability to completely screw up your Christmas morning on a whim. Again, no offense intended if elves and apps are your thing. Unlike Santa, I’m not here to judge. I’m just saying … why? Also, I can’t be the only one who thinks this is creepy, because even the Santa’s Watching people put this message on their iTunes page: Merry Christmas!! Image via Theresa/Flickr
title: " Santa S Watching App Is Yet Another Way To Terrorize Your Kids This Christmas" ShowToc: true date: “2024-08-29” author: “Tracie Messier”
It works pretty much exactly the way you’d expect — your kid freaks out, you play a personalized message for him or her from Santa Claus telling him “that he or she needs to listen to Mommy or Daddy in that gentle way that only Santa can deliver” (as KCTV News describes it). And that’s all you really need to know about Santa’s Watching, except I feel obliged to include the company’s description here because for some reason I find it really, really funny: Sure, we’ve all been there. We haven’t all immediately considered threatening our kids with a crappy, gift-less Christmas in that moment, however. But let’s say that playing the Santa card in a discipline crisis is your thing. What can parents who use this app expect to happen next? Watch your child’s light up with amazement … or abject terror? Santa really is watching all the time. It sounds like the tag line for a holiday horror movie, doesn’t it? (In fact, I feel like that new scary Santa movie Krampus actually is using that line in the trailer, or something pretty close to it.) And sure, I guess fear is as effective a method as any to convince a small child to “instantly improve” his behavior, but does that mean it’s a good idea? More from The Stir: ‘Elf on the Shelf’ Is the Real Nightmare Before Christmas Look, I’m not judging parents who use Santa and/or his cohorts as a way to make kids behave during the holidays — I’m quite certain I’ve pulled the “Santa’s watching” thing at least once or twice in my parenting career, in moments of sheer exhaustion/desperation, but overall I really do think that Santa should be presented as a jovial, harmless sort of character, not some sort of toy-withholding moral authority. And yes, I get that Santa’s supposed to have his list, and kids are supposed to be striving toward being nice, not naughty … but can’t we just mention that in a couple of songs and let it go? Must we drive the point home with apps and creepy dolls? Christmas is supposed to be fun. About love and being happy and festive and spending time with loved ones … not being monitored at all times by some old pipe-smoking freak with the ability to completely screw up your Christmas morning on a whim. Again, no offense intended if elves and apps are your thing. Unlike Santa, I’m not here to judge. I’m just saying … why? Also, I can’t be the only one who thinks this is creepy, because even the Santa’s Watching people put this message on their iTunes page: Merry Christmas!! Image via Theresa/Flickr
title: " Santa S Watching App Is Yet Another Way To Terrorize Your Kids This Christmas" ShowToc: true date: “2024-10-07” author: “Kristina Neff”
It works pretty much exactly the way you’d expect — your kid freaks out, you play a personalized message for him or her from Santa Claus telling him “that he or she needs to listen to Mommy or Daddy in that gentle way that only Santa can deliver” (as KCTV News describes it). And that’s all you really need to know about Santa’s Watching, except I feel obliged to include the company’s description here because for some reason I find it really, really funny: Sure, we’ve all been there. We haven’t all immediately considered threatening our kids with a crappy, gift-less Christmas in that moment, however. But let’s say that playing the Santa card in a discipline crisis is your thing. What can parents who use this app expect to happen next? Watch your child’s light up with amazement … or abject terror? Santa really is watching all the time. It sounds like the tag line for a holiday horror movie, doesn’t it? (In fact, I feel like that new scary Santa movie Krampus actually is using that line in the trailer, or something pretty close to it.) And sure, I guess fear is as effective a method as any to convince a small child to “instantly improve” his behavior, but does that mean it’s a good idea? More from The Stir: ‘Elf on the Shelf’ Is the Real Nightmare Before Christmas Look, I’m not judging parents who use Santa and/or his cohorts as a way to make kids behave during the holidays — I’m quite certain I’ve pulled the “Santa’s watching” thing at least once or twice in my parenting career, in moments of sheer exhaustion/desperation, but overall I really do think that Santa should be presented as a jovial, harmless sort of character, not some sort of toy-withholding moral authority. And yes, I get that Santa’s supposed to have his list, and kids are supposed to be striving toward being nice, not naughty … but can’t we just mention that in a couple of songs and let it go? Must we drive the point home with apps and creepy dolls? Christmas is supposed to be fun. About love and being happy and festive and spending time with loved ones … not being monitored at all times by some old pipe-smoking freak with the ability to completely screw up your Christmas morning on a whim. Again, no offense intended if elves and apps are your thing. Unlike Santa, I’m not here to judge. I’m just saying … why? Also, I can’t be the only one who thinks this is creepy, because even the Santa’s Watching people put this message on their iTunes page: Merry Christmas!! Image via Theresa/Flickr
title: " Santa S Watching App Is Yet Another Way To Terrorize Your Kids This Christmas" ShowToc: true date: “2024-08-27” author: “Shirley Perry”
It works pretty much exactly the way you’d expect — your kid freaks out, you play a personalized message for him or her from Santa Claus telling him “that he or she needs to listen to Mommy or Daddy in that gentle way that only Santa can deliver” (as KCTV News describes it). And that’s all you really need to know about Santa’s Watching, except I feel obliged to include the company’s description here because for some reason I find it really, really funny: Sure, we’ve all been there. We haven’t all immediately considered threatening our kids with a crappy, gift-less Christmas in that moment, however. But let’s say that playing the Santa card in a discipline crisis is your thing. What can parents who use this app expect to happen next? Watch your child’s light up with amazement … or abject terror? Santa really is watching all the time. It sounds like the tag line for a holiday horror movie, doesn’t it? (In fact, I feel like that new scary Santa movie Krampus actually is using that line in the trailer, or something pretty close to it.) And sure, I guess fear is as effective a method as any to convince a small child to “instantly improve” his behavior, but does that mean it’s a good idea? More from The Stir: ‘Elf on the Shelf’ Is the Real Nightmare Before Christmas Look, I’m not judging parents who use Santa and/or his cohorts as a way to make kids behave during the holidays — I’m quite certain I’ve pulled the “Santa’s watching” thing at least once or twice in my parenting career, in moments of sheer exhaustion/desperation, but overall I really do think that Santa should be presented as a jovial, harmless sort of character, not some sort of toy-withholding moral authority. And yes, I get that Santa’s supposed to have his list, and kids are supposed to be striving toward being nice, not naughty … but can’t we just mention that in a couple of songs and let it go? Must we drive the point home with apps and creepy dolls? Christmas is supposed to be fun. About love and being happy and festive and spending time with loved ones … not being monitored at all times by some old pipe-smoking freak with the ability to completely screw up your Christmas morning on a whim. Again, no offense intended if elves and apps are your thing. Unlike Santa, I’m not here to judge. I’m just saying … why? Also, I can’t be the only one who thinks this is creepy, because even the Santa’s Watching people put this message on their iTunes page: Merry Christmas!! Image via Theresa/Flickr
