What Does Santa Want?

December 10, 2009   2 Comments

Our relatives, children, and friends are making lists right now for holiday gift giving. But, what about Santa?

I feel for him so I sent him an e-mail asking him what he wants and I received this response:

Dear Snack-Girl,

Thank you for asking what I want for Christmas. You are very thoughtful.

As you know, children leave me milk and cookies on every stop on my worldwide journey. In Pennsylvania alone, I will be confronted with 787,500,000 calories. This has been adding to my waistline and my belly (which used to feel like a bowl full of jelly) now feels like a tub of lard.

Please ask your readers to leave me some healthy snacks. I read your blog and I'm sure you can give them some great suggestions.

Yours,
Santa
PS Can't fit that Porsche you asked for in the bag this year. How about a toaster oven?

Christmas can be a "teachable moment". I would NEVER suggest not to bake holiday cookies, but why not add a healthy snack to Santa's treat?

Go ahead and leave out cookies and milk, but leave out some carrot sticks or have kids make Ants on a Log. Here are some other healthy suggestions:
Mandarin Orange
Grapes
Banana
Fruit Salad

See a list of kid friendly snacks here: kid friendly

Santa will probably have a bite of the cookie, and then finish the healthy snack. He is SO great about leading by example. Of course, he is pretty threatening with that "naughty or nice" routine.

Santa isn't kidding about all those calories - here is a great article from the Pennsylvania Medical Society about Santa Snacks: Leave Santa Healthy

How do you influence your kids (or friends, spouses, partners, etc.) to eat healthy? Please share below.

Want to read about great snack habits?
How to Eat More Vegetables
How to Survive Holiday Parties
How to Identify Bad Habits