Lisa Henderson, a blogger living in Utah, recently made headlines when she and her husband, John, announced that they would be skipping Christmas this year. Despite still putting up decorations around their home, the couple decided not to exchange gifts or even have presents from Santa Claus delivered to their children. According to Henderson's blog post, this decision was rooted in a deep-seated frustration with their children's behavior and entitlement.
Henderson wrote that she and her husband were struggling "to keep up with our kids' ever-increasing demands for more and more stuff" and felt like they were fighting "a very hard uphill battle with their rights." She went on to explain that their children had been acting ungrateful lately, and that she believed it was important to teach them the value of giving back to others.
So instead of celebrating Christmas with presents and holiday traditions, the Hendersons are putting their money towards service projects that will benefit those in need. They plan to teach their three sons the "pleasure of giving" by involving them in community service activities and encouraging them to think about ways in which they can help others.
The family will still receive gifts from grandparents and other family members, but this year, their letters to Santa will be asking him to find someone who needs presents more than they do. In doing so, Lisa Henderson and her husband hope to instill in their children a sense of empathy and compassion for others that will serve them well throughout their lives.
In an interview with ABC News, 11-year-old Caleb Henderson confessed to having been involved in some unpleasant behavior with his siblings. "We would hit each other, we were fighting and crying," he acknowledged, adding that when his mother Lisa broke the news to her sons, they responded by shedding tears of remorse.
However, Henderson's outlook has since taken a positive turn. In an update shared with Fox News last week, he revealed that the family had made a sudden shift in attitude towards Christmas. They have started organizing a clothing drive for the benefit of a village in the Philippines that was severely impacted by Typhoon Haiyan last year.
According to Lisa, her children were thrilled at the prospect of helping others and showed a strong desire to donate more and more items. She documented their generosity on her blog and many readers responded positively to the post, with some even sharing their own experiences of teaching their children to be charitable or grateful during the holiday season.
As one commenter wrote, "As parents, you're giving your kids something so much more special than a bunch of gifts on Christmas." The story serves as a reminder that there can be joy in giving, even during what may seem like an otherwise materialistic time of year.
However, Henderson's blog also received negative feedback. To address the criticism, she published a statement on her blog that read in part:
"I would like to clarify a few points. Firstly, my children were not physically harmed by any of this... They have responded by making gifts for each other and secretly packing them into each other's stockings. They are learning exactly what we intended for them to learn, as they are not dwelling on their feelings of remorse. Instead, they are thinking of others."
The second thing I wanted to explain is why I wrote this post. Some people seem to think I wrote this for attention. Ummm, the attention you get from posts like this is not good and actually extremely difficult to deal with.... The reason I wrote this post is I want to empower parents to feel like it’s okay to take a stand. ...I wanted to share what we are doing, so any parents that feel they are struggling with the same issues in their home can see what others are doing and get ideas for their family. My intention is to help support other parents and to raise amazing kids.
1. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by_______.
A. when Lisa told the kids they didn’t spend Christmas, they felt extremely sad
B. all the kids let out an excited cry when Santa sent them Christmas presents
C. the moment Lisa said the Philippines was hit by typhoon, they burst into tears
D. when their grandparents didn’t send them gifts, the kids couldn't help crying.
It seems that you are asking me to rewrite the content from the last two paragraphs and provide a conclusion based on them. From my understanding, the last paragraph is missing, but I can still make an educated guess about the main idea of the text.
From the last two paragraphs we can conclude that the writer wants to share his experiences of raising amazing kids and strongly calls on people to care for the unfortunate. It's also possible that educating kids needs regular communication and great patience. Therefore, the conclusion could be: The writer believes in the value of education, strong communication, and compassion. He has had success in raising amazing kids, and he wants to share his experiences with others. He also cares deeply about the well-being of others, especially those who have suffered hardships.
As for the best title, it would depend on the specific content of your text. If your text is mainly about how American parents decide not to celebrate Christmas, then "Why These Parents Decided Not To Celebrate Christmas" would be a good title. If your text is mainly about how Americans spend their traditional Christmas, then "How Americans Usually Spend A Traditional Christmas" would be a good title. If your text is mainly about the difficulties parents face when raising children at Christmas, then "A Hard Battle between Kids And Parents At Christmas" would be a good title. If your text is mainly about what American people do to have a nice Christmas, then "What American People Do To Have A Nice Christmas" would be a good title.
