AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
Blogger Miriam Gwynne is mum to autistic twins, but it is her daughter who was severely struggling with many elements of Christmas such as how Santa accesses the house, grottoes and sitting on a stranger's lap.
TELLING children that Father Christmas isn’t real can prove to be a difficult situation for parents, but one mum couldn’t wait to tell her daughter the truth.
Miriam Gwynne explained why she felt she had no other option but to be brutally honest with Naomi, 8, after she became incredibly anxious about Father Christmas and how he manages to visit every house in the world, get inside even without chimneys, and can be at a multitude of shopping centre grottoes and the North Pole at once.
The Scottish blogger said: “The very thought that a stranger would enter her house while she was asleep utterly horrified her.
“Telling my young daughter there is no such person as Santa has been the most magical thing I could have done for her.
“All of a sudden everything now makes sense to her. She can now reason in her mind how ‘Santa’ can be in the shopping centre, the local school and somehow in the North Pole at the same time.
“She realised that the chimney stuff is all a story and there is no need to fear a stranger coming in her house while she is asleep.
“She understands why children suddenly want to sit on someone’s knee and tell them what they want for Christmas because the man in red is actually not a stranger to them at all.”
Miriam, explains on her blog Faith Mummy that her daughter and her twin brother – who is severely autistic and cannot speak or read – were born after a gruelling IVF process, struggled to see her child so anxious about what should be a joyous and happy time.
She added: “The very mention of Santa was not exciting my child or making her suddenly want to be on the ‘nice list’, it was in fact causing her to stay awake at night worrying and making her jump every time the door bell rung.
“I could not continue to see her so nervous and anxious over something that was meant to be a joyous and wonderful occasion.”
She added that her daughter was also confused about how Father Christmas could get in to houses without a chimney, despite carols claiming that was his way in and out of places.
Miriam also claimed that seeing people sitting on Father Christmas’ knee was a horrifying sight for her daughter.
She said: “Having spent years trying to get her to understand basic social rules such as we don’t talk to strangers and we certainly never sit on other people’s knees all of a sudden she watched in horror as every other child she knew broke all of these social rules just because the ‘stranger’ was dressed in a red suit.
“Her autism makes breaking any sort of rule horrifying and very distressing so Santa became linked with people doing very strange and confusing things indeed.”
Miriam concluded that she should have been honest with her sooner.
She said: “I actually wish I had told her there is no such person as Santa earlier. Now she knows Santa is all made up she is happier and more excited about Christmas than she has ever been before.
“She knows she is getting presents, she knows who buys them and she knows how we get them.
“For some children with autism the magic of Christmas is actually in finally finding out Santa is not real at all.”
Source: A mum explains why she had to tell her autistic daughter 'the truth' about Santa
Blogger Miriam Gwynne is mum to autistic twins, but it is her daughter who was severely struggling with many elements of Christmas such as how Santa accesses the house, grottoes and sitting on a stranger's lap.
TELLING children that Father Christmas isn’t real can prove to be a difficult situation for parents, but one mum couldn’t wait to tell her daughter the truth.
Miriam Gwynne explained why she felt she had no other option but to be brutally honest with Naomi, 8, after she became incredibly anxious about Father Christmas and how he manages to visit every house in the world, get inside even without chimneys, and can be at a multitude of shopping centre grottoes and the North Pole at once.
The Scottish blogger said: “The very thought that a stranger would enter her house while she was asleep utterly horrified her.
“Telling my young daughter there is no such person as Santa has been the most magical thing I could have done for her.
“All of a sudden everything now makes sense to her. She can now reason in her mind how ‘Santa’ can be in the shopping centre, the local school and somehow in the North Pole at the same time.
“She realised that the chimney stuff is all a story and there is no need to fear a stranger coming in her house while she is asleep.
“She understands why children suddenly want to sit on someone’s knee and tell them what they want for Christmas because the man in red is actually not a stranger to them at all.”
Miriam, explains on her blog Faith Mummy that her daughter and her twin brother – who is severely autistic and cannot speak or read – were born after a gruelling IVF process, struggled to see her child so anxious about what should be a joyous and happy time.
She added: “The very mention of Santa was not exciting my child or making her suddenly want to be on the ‘nice list’, it was in fact causing her to stay awake at night worrying and making her jump every time the door bell rung.
“I could not continue to see her so nervous and anxious over something that was meant to be a joyous and wonderful occasion.”
She added that her daughter was also confused about how Father Christmas could get in to houses without a chimney, despite carols claiming that was his way in and out of places.
Miriam also claimed that seeing people sitting on Father Christmas’ knee was a horrifying sight for her daughter.
She said: “Having spent years trying to get her to understand basic social rules such as we don’t talk to strangers and we certainly never sit on other people’s knees all of a sudden she watched in horror as every other child she knew broke all of these social rules just because the ‘stranger’ was dressed in a red suit.
“Her autism makes breaking any sort of rule horrifying and very distressing so Santa became linked with people doing very strange and confusing things indeed.”
Miriam concluded that she should have been honest with her sooner.
She said: “I actually wish I had told her there is no such person as Santa earlier. Now she knows Santa is all made up she is happier and more excited about Christmas than she has ever been before.
“She knows she is getting presents, she knows who buys them and she knows how we get them.
“For some children with autism the magic of Christmas is actually in finally finding out Santa is not real at all.”
Source: A mum explains why she had to tell her autistic daughter 'the truth' about Santa
