You Better Not Lie, I’m Telling You Why…Santa Claus Is Coming

Written by Dawn Fry


You Better Not Lie, I’m Telling You Why… Santa Claus Is Coming By Dawn Fry

Holiday season bringsrepparttar perennial return of Santa Claus. According to traditional lore, St. Nick flies aroundrepparttar 110839 world on his reindeer-powered sleigh. He lavishes gifts uponrepparttar 110840 good children ofrepparttar 110841 world, and as forrepparttar 110842 naughty youngsters…well, they can expect lumps of fossil fuel in their stockings. This jovial, rotund old fellow provides a magical experience that enrichesrepparttar 110843 lives of children. Right? Well, not necessarily.

Parents often recount their childhood stories as cherished memories and want to recreaterepparttar 110844 same experiences for their children. Unfortunately, parents' good intentions may actually lead to mixed messages that may be harmful to children—and there is no magic in that. After taking a closer look at howrepparttar 110845 Santa “fantasy” really affects children, you'll realize that it's time to giverepparttar 110846 traditional Santa fantasy a modern makeover.

You Better Not Pout…. “He knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." The song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" provides an example ofrepparttar 110847 mixed messages associated withrepparttar 110848 traditional Santa Claus myth. In this song,repparttar 110849 take-home message for many children is: "Santa is watching you, so you better be good. If you are not good Santa won’t bring you toys."

Adults, in some cases, take advantage of this message to control children's behavior. A department store employee once boasted that she hadrepparttar 110850 perfect way to keep customers’ children under control. Whenever children became unruly, she would warn them that Santa had cameras all overrepparttar 110851 store, and he could see them being bad. If they didn't stop misbehaving,repparttar 110852 clerk warned, they wouldn’t receive any toys on Christmas. She took great pride inrepparttar 110853 fact that this trick worked every time.

What a creepy idea: Santa watches and judges you, and worse, he may even punish you. Youngsters believe that if they don’t perform in acceptable ways, Santa won’t bring them toys. This reward/punishment scenario encourages children to be good forrepparttar 110854 sake of a reward, and even worse, it instills a sort of "Big Brother is watching" feeling. So be good to get toys, and be good because someone's watching you. What happened to be good for goodness sake?

He's Gonna Find Out Who's Naughty or Nice…. Another harmful message implicit inrepparttar 110855 Santa myth is that material objects reflect quality of character. In this faulty logic, if being good leads to toys, then receiving toys signify good behavior. Take, for instance,repparttar 110856 following example—a true story.

Afterrepparttar 110857 holidays, several children discussedrepparttar 110858 exciting gifts Santa had brought them. One child claimed that she had been so good that Santa brought herrepparttar 110859 bike she had really wanted. Another little girl, who had suffered parental abuse and neglect, listened torepparttar 110860 first girl's story. Later, in a very meek voice, she asked her caretaker a heartbreaking question: Since she had been good, when was Santa going to bring her bike? In this case, and unfortunately in others,repparttar 110861 Santa myth sets children up for disappointment and self-doubt.

I'm Telling You Why…. At about age five children begin to questionrepparttar 110862 Santa myth by asking such questions as:

·Is Santa Claus real? ·How can he make it to allrepparttar 110863 houses in one night? ·How can he fit downrepparttar 110864 chimney? ·We don’t have a chimney, so how can Santa come to my house? ·How can this be Santa when we just saw him at another store? ·Do reindeer really fly?

One Would Think That We Would Be Safer In The Comfort Of Our Own Homes!

Written by Bruce Bowery


Have you ever given any thought torepparttar fact that you might be causing more harm than good while using your consumable products? I know that we have used household cleaners and personal care products for decades, so why am I bringing this issue up now? If we do not educate ourselves on this topic, then inrepparttar 110838 end, we have no one else to blame but ourselves. The plain and simple truth is that manufacturing companies spend millions of dollars on advertising their products every year. We are blasted on a daily basis with commercials and ads regarding our consumable products. Forrepparttar 110839 most part, we also believe that if we want to have cleaner houses and look our personal best, then we NEED to have, buy, and use these types of products. Have you ever takenrepparttar 110840 time to research exactly what you are either inhaling or absorbing through your skin whenever you use these products? The sad fact is thatrepparttar 110841 majority of us have never given that point any thought. Why, because we do not know that there is any serious health risks associated withrepparttar 110842 vast majority of these products. We have never been told through these ads or commercials thatrepparttar 110843 chemicals and toxins used in making these products can be potentially dangerous to our health. Manufacturers are only mandated or required to listrepparttar 110844 potential concerns associated with their particular product, such as: use caution, wear protective gloves, use safety glasses, may be corrosive, or whetherrepparttar 110845 product is classified as poison etc. Only 1 percent of TOXINS are required to be listed on labels. According torepparttar 110846 National Research Council, “no toxic information is available for more than 80% ofrepparttar 110847 chemicals in everyday-use products. Less than 20% have been tested for acute effects and less than 10% have been tested for chronic, reproductive or mutagenic effects.” A more alarming issue revolves around our personal care products. Back in 1989, a House Senate Subcommittee askedrepparttar 110848 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to analyze 2,093 chemicals used in personal care products. There results were as follows: 884 ofrepparttar 110849 ingredients were found to be toxic. Of these, 778 can cause acute toxicity, 146 can cause tumors, 218 can cause reproductive complications, 314 can cause biological mutations, and 376 can cause skin and eye irritations. Now, I will say that there are several factors to consider while determining whether or not a toxin actually causes harm in any particular situation, such as: potency,repparttar 110850 rate of exposure;repparttar 110851 dosage, and individual sensitivity. We all are very aware ofrepparttar 110852 irritations to our skin, eyes and throats, when using some of these products, but are you aware that those irritations may just berepparttar 110853 tip ofrepparttar 110854 iceberg? Toxins are known to cause a variety of harms and health issues. The EPA has acknowledged thatrepparttar 110855 air inside our homes is 3 to 70 times more polluted thanrepparttar 110856 air outside our homes. The EPA has also acknowledged that toxic chemicals in household cleaners are 3 times more likely to cause cancer than outside pollutants. What are some ofrepparttar 110857 other risks involved with using these types of products? Cancers, anemia, leukemia, liver, lung and kidney problems, learning and developmental issues, reproductive issues, and death are just some ofrepparttar 110858 health issues associated with these toxins. Now it appears that more doctors and scientist are discovering that there may be more correlation betweenrepparttar 110859 usage of household chemicals andrepparttar 110860 increase in chronic illnesses, especially involving children. Such illnesses such as cancer, ADD, and asthma have been on a steady increase overrepparttar 110861 past few decades among our children. Now you may be wondering what a toxin is, and a toxin can be defined as harmful chemicals or substances that occur in nature and or are manufactured. You also may be wondering what toxins are commonly found in our homes. Listed below are some ofrepparttar 110862 toxins most commonly found in our homes, just to name a few.

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