Parenting can be tough – especially during the holidays, when kids want sugar, are very excited about presents and are counting down the days until Santa comes down the chimney (or magically comes through the furnace, since this writer did not grow up with a chimney). It can be hard to keep little ones calm this time of year, and the coronavirus pandemic has added to those difficulties, since we all also have to stay inside.
George Clooney shared a very relatable parenting hack he uses with Ella and Alexander, his and Amal Clooney's three-year-old twins.
"I devised a way to get them to behave during this time," he said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Dec. 18.
"When they're asleep in the morning – they sleep in the same bedroom – they start to make noises, and you can hear the two of them getting at each other, and I stand outside the door and I go, 'Oh, hi Santa!'
"And then you hear Santa is there, and he's like, 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' and I say, 'What are you doing here, Santa?' and he says, 'Oh, I'm just making sure that the kids are being good kids.'
"And you can hear them going, 'We are, Santa! We are!' Then he leaves and they come out and they're unbelievably well-behaved."
Have you done this with your kids? Did your parents do this with you growing up? There are few things worse than the possibility of disappointing Santa – for whom every child has every incentive to behave, else they land on the wrong list! Having conversations with Santa to keep your kids calm might be worth a try if you haven't done it yet.
George and Amal leave the Man Hotel in Venice, Italy after getting married in 2014. Photo: © PVS/GC Images
Of course, the other time of year that kids are excited about candy and surprises is Easter, and George told Stephen Colbert he isn't quite sure what he'll do then. The same approach might not work.
"I'm worried bout the Easter bunny because I'm not quite sure what he sounds like," he quipped.
Ella and Alexander turn four years old in 2021. The twins have never been pictured in public, and George and Amal are fiercely protective of their privacy. We hope they have a great Christmas this year!