• Home
  • About ZefronRock
  • PR Welcome
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Mixed Prints Life

Manly Mondays :: Holiday Magic

December 10, 2012

________________________________________________________________

Sometimes the joy of parenting is curbed by the not so perfect moments your children bring you.  And sometimes those moments last all day long.  And in these moments, the whole positive reinforcement thing doesn’t quite work.  Suffice it to say that the whole “Santa will bring you presents if you’re good” doesn’t register with the resident 3 year olds of the house.
But what’s a dad to do if the jolly fat guy doesn’t work?  Kids expect presents under the tree regardless of their behavior.  Lucky for my kids, I heard about Krampus.  This little Austrian nugget is the negative reinforcement to be used in case of emergency all December long.  Leave it to the German speaking countries to come up with this.
It looks evil.  Krampus doesn’t stick fossil fuel in a bad kid’s stocking.  Heck, as the story goes, Krampus actually abducts naughty kids at night.  Even the 3 year olds know not to mess with Krampus.
Of course I tried to leverage the Santa/Krampus duo to influence behavior in the house.  I programmed Samantha’s phone to show a picture of Santa and the name Santa when I call.  If Charlie is misbehaving, he may get a call from Santa.  How he doesn’t know that I’m never in the room for these conversations is unsettling, but I can understand his lack of awareness given the importance of the phone call.  And in case of emergency, I programmed the name Krampus and a pic of the beastly fellow on my phone for when Samantha calls.  Now when Charlie knows he’s over the line, I ask for my phone and Charlie sheepishly asks who I’m calling.  Whether he thinks its Kris Kringle or Krampus, peace is usually achieved.  Well played.

Filed Under: manly mondays 3 Comments

« 10th Annual Progressive Dinner
RACK :: Act 15 – RACK & RACK’ed Back! »

Comments

  1. Wilfred says

    December 11, 2012 at 2:19 am

    Excellent story. We just introduced Krampus to our family Christmas tradition and look forward to many joyful Krampus memories.

    Reply
  2. Felicia says

    December 11, 2012 at 2:28 am

    Us too! We love Krampus at our house. It’s a shame more parents don’t have Krampus in their children’s lives.

    Reply
  3. Susanna says

    December 11, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    A truly heartwarming story. Krampus is the yin to Santa’s yang, the necessary balance to the excessive greed and undeserved over-indulgence the Christmas season offers.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

About me

Dancer (not professionally), drinker (of coffee), diva (#SELFIEsteem) aka Hella Basic, doer (of the things. maybe)
Read More

Subscribe

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Styled by NW Designs