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From Sympatico.ca News:
Teen threatens to kill Santa Claus
15/12/2011 8:30:00 AM
by Nevil Hunt
A 13-year-old girl in England has made the national press after penning a threatening note to Santa. Mekeeda Austin wrote that she'd kill Old St. Nick if he didn't deliver at least two of the gifts on her list.
The top of Santa's naughty list this year may be Mekeeda Austin.
The 13-year-old girl from Bedford, England, wrote a letter to Santa demanding that he bring her at least two of the gifts on her Christmas list. If he fails to deliver, Mekeeda wrote she'd kill him and his reindeer.
Her mother, Tracey Austin, found the note in her daughter's school bag. As far as I know, it's not a crime to threaten to kill a fictional character, and it's unlikely that Mekeeda still believes Santa delivers her gifts each year.
The girl obviously wrote the note for her mom to see, and the U.K. tabloid the Daily Mail has made the family's strange conduct into a shocking story. If Mekeeda had kept the note away from her mom, how would she ever receive the gifts at Christmas?
The list includes a BlackBerry, money, and a sweater and running shoes made by specific designers. Her long-shot gifts are the real Justin Bieber and a teen singer named Austin Mahone.
Tracey told the newspaper that she will get her daughter items from her list or Mekeeda will get angry.
"You don't want to get on the wrong side of Mekeeda," Tracey said. "I think I better get her what she wants."
The 13-year-old's sense of entitlement is shocking, and it's bound to offend the Daily Mail's readers. The girl's demands – and the fact that mom will do as she's told – force us to ask who is really in charge of the family.
It's a parent's responsibility to set boundaries and stick to them so their children understand that there are limits. Limits on what we do, and limits on what we can have.
Kids won't grow up with common sense if they don't learn those lessons. Pity the child who becomes an adult and hasn't found out that they won't always get their way.
Mekeeda's demands reconfirm the common belief that kids today are spoiled compared to when we were their age. It's an easy story to believe, but it deserves a bit of study. Doesn't every age group think about previous generations the same way?
Given that families are smaller today than in the not-too-distant past – with more single-child families – maybe there are now more children doted upon, but that doesn't excuse parents who let a child run the household.
Even outright materialism isn't new. I'm not the only kid who spent November and December each year thumbing through the Sears catalogue's toy section.
In addition to learning boundaries – what's acceptable and unacceptable behaviour – our kids need to know they can dream any dream they want, but we all have to be thankful for what we actually get.
How do you deal with a child who hasn't learned boundaries? Is it always the parents' fault?
Link(s):
Teen threatens to kill Santa Claus | Sympatico.ca News
Christmas list: Spoilt girl, 13, demands presents or says 'Santa Claus will die' | Mail Online
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Originally Posted by IdRatherBeSkiing
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