There is a small window in time when kids believe in Santa Claus. It’s a magical time for them and their parents. There is really nothing quite like seeing the wonder on a child’s face when they walk downstairs on Christmas morning and stare in amazement at the sorcery that is good old Kris Kringle. Overnight cookies were eaten, milk was drunk, and, most importantly, toys and presents appeared. It doesn’t matter that what really happened was dad struggling for a couple hours to assemble a train set, gruffly grunting that there isn’t enough whiskey in the world to make this all worthwhile, while trying to prove that there is, indeed, no such thing as too much whiskey.
But it IS worthwhile! Three hours after mom and dad finished setting up the toys (and drinking all the eggnog in the house), the kids wake up from their long winter’s nap and with blurry eyes and messy hair, find their way downstairs and the magic happens.
Unless, of course, some cynical, mean, nasty, and just plain rude substitute teacher manages to take whatever is left of a 1st graders innocence and shatter all illusion of Christmas enchantment by telling her entire class that terrible truth we all secretly wish we never knew – Santa Claus isn’t real.
Yet one New Jersey teacher did just that!
That’s right, a substitute teacher took it upon herself to “educate” her entire class on the truth about Santa and completely ruin Christmas while she was at it, which left the administration at Cedar Hill School in Montville, NJ scrambling to apologize for her actions.
Principal Michael J. Raj wrote in a letter, “As a father of four myself, I am truly aware of the sensitive nature of this announcement, so that you are aware of the situation and if the conversation comes up at home over the next few days you can take appropriate steps to maintain the childhood innocence of the holiday season.”
Raj told parents in that first message that he was reviewing the matter. Well, after a few days, he’d reviewed it enough to fire the Substitute Grinch That Ruined Christmas.
Oh – and she didn’t just ruin Christmas, she went even further.
After she told the class that Santa wasn’t real, the stunned children launched in a barrage of questions for the substitute. They now had questions about the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Elf on a Shelf and even leprechauns.
And one by one she debunked the magic of each one. No more Easter Bunny; goodbye Tooth Fairy; adios Senior Elf On A Shelf.
In one fell swoop, this rogue, anti-magic substitute Scrooge ruined all of our favorite childhood beliefs for these poor kids.
In the end, it’s good to know she won’t have an opportunity to ruin Christmas for any more kids at the school. Let’s hope the parents of the kids an cover things up and repair the damage done, so the kids have at least a couple more years of Christmas magic.
