When I was little, starting right after Thanksgiving, my parents would begin threatening us that if we weren't good Santa would leave us a lump of coal in our stocking. One year, probably just as I was beginning to question the logic of a big, magic, man traversing the globe in one night, I actually DID get a lump of real coal in my stocking. My parents probably did this to scare me into believing for the benefit of my younger siblings. To this day, I am still traumatized and shamed by that morning when I reached into my stocking and pulled out my sooty hand filled with charcoal from our BBQ.
Now that I have kids, I find myself making those same threats, "Santa's watching you!", "If you're not good, you might find a lump of coal in your stocking!" Today, while shopping at Target I found this:
Coal shaped bubble gum! I actually bought a sack. I plan on giving it to all three girls in their Advent calendar on a particularly naughty day. Hopefully, being gum, it won't traumatize them as much as actual coal but will have the same scared straight effect. I suppose, if it does traumatize them, they can just add it to my bill for their adult therapy.
