Family cancels Christmas after children behave badly
A mom's blog has been getting lots of attention after her family made the decision to not celebrate Christmas due to her children's bad behavior.
Lisa Henderson recently wrote a blog post on Over the Big Moon that her children were not thankful for the things they currently have. "They expect so much even when their behavior is extremely disrespectful. We gave them good warning, either it was time for their behavior to change or there would be consequences," the mother of two wrote on her blog.
"We patiently worked with them for several months and guess what, very little changed. One day after a particularly bad display of entitlement (Henderson's husband) John said, 'we should just cancel Christmas.' And, so that's what we did."
The mom says that the money her family would've spent on Christmas gift this year will instead go to service projects and giving gifts to others. "We are trying to teach them the pleasure of giving rather than continuing to feed their childhood desire for more," Henderson said.
So far, Henderson's family has enjoyed now making Christmas just about presents. "In the future our goal is to celebrate Christmas with experiences, not physical things. We want to either take a trip as a family or do some other sort of activity together that will create a forever memory!" Henderson told ABC.
The family's decision has generated a flurry of heated opinions on the original blog post. Many have criticized the family's decision to cancel Christmas, calling Henderson a "scrooge," "lazy," and even a "mean parent." Others though have expressed their support, with some calling the family's deeds a "blessing." Henderson states that she has already noticed a large positive impact in her children's behavior and how they relate to each other.
"I have heard them talking about what others need at school. They are so much more aware of others. They have thought up some of their own secret Santa projects and ideas for service," Henderson told ABC. "My kids were already great kids, but we were starting to see some entitlement creep in. We wanted to stop it before it could go anywhere. This has totally helped bring their perspective back where we wanted it to be."
