With the hope, joy, happiness, and merriment of the season, also come presents. Many, many presents come for children. Some of these presents are perfect. Some will be loved for years to come. Some will become the basis of cherished holiday memories.
However, that leaves the handful of presents that are... not. A lot of people have the greatest intentions for their gifts, but some people just mess it up. This does not make the gift-giver a bad person. It just makes that person a bad gift-giver.
Because the season suggests love and joy as themes, we are forced to go along with these bad gifts. We need to thank gracefully and appreciatively. It is easy for adults to do this; for the kids, it is a skill that must be taught.
Eleven months out of the year, we teach the children to be truthful. We bombard the kids with fortune-cookie wisdom like honesty is the best policy, don't tell lies, and the truth never hurt anyone. December changes everything.
Once the turkey is gone, the leaves are off the trees, and the frost is on the lawns, the rules change. In December, the truth does hurt people. One one hand, children should be kind to others and not hurt people's feelings. On the other hand, they should not lie. Both of these ideals cannot coexist in December. This dilemma leads to a justification of lying.
Lying is the safest, nicest thing a person can do. These are not the overt lies that exist on the same plane of stealing and cheating; these are the little lies that allow society to function.
These are the lies that allow men to answer the "Does this make me look fat?" questions. These are the lies that let people answer a boss's "Isn't this a great place to work?" questions. These are the lies that let wives tell husbands how good they are at fixing things around the house. These are the lies that keep people talking to each other.
Kids need this skill, and they need it in December.
The first step is to be able to smile when opening one of these bad-gifts. It cannot be the kind of smile that looks like you've swallowed a lemon. It has to be a real-looking smile. Teach the kids to say a knock-knock joke while opening the present so they will have a smile on their faces.
Part of the trick is to teach kids a code-word like awesome, but tell them it means "no good." For example, when trying auntie's soup, the child will immediately say, "This is awesome!" Because the child has "honestly" expressed him or herself using this code-word, he or she will smile naturally.
To sell the deception, the kid needs to say how wonderful the present is. This where drills come in handy. Kids were able to memorize the alphabet, and they have been able to memorize the goofy songs from TV, so they will be able to memorize, "This is awesome!"
As a result, kids will have learned the subtle deceptions necessary for keeping relationships together, staying employed, and getting more gifts in the future.
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