Many years ago, Santa and his elves were celebrating that they had delivered all the Christmas presents to everyone around the world!
“Time for a short holiday!” declared Santa.
After their short break, Santa and his elves had to start planting the 'Present Trees' on the first Saturday in the New Year.
The Present Trees grow over the year, in the 'Christmas Amazon', and produce all the materials that Santa and his elves need to make all the toys for the following Christmas.
At the start of the year, the Present Trees were growing as usual. Then at the end of January, a horrible turn of events happened! Due to the unusually warm weather, some of the trees stopped growing!
Santa and his elves started to panic!
“If the Present Trees don’t grow, the children won’t get all their toys next Christmas” exclaimed Santa.
The elves got together and tried to come up with different ways to save Christmas.
The Elves' ideas to save Christmas
The first elf named Shimmy Upatree, went to Santa with his idea on how to save Christmas.
“We could visit the White Witch of Narnia. I’ve heard that she has magic powers which can double the amount of Presents Trees so we have enough toys for all the Children!”
Santa loved that Shimmy Upatree was trying to help but Santa told him that whilst the White Witch could double the amount of Present Trees, it wasn’t that simple. In order for the White Witch to help, you first have to first beat her at a game which she usually wins.
“If you lose the game then we’ll lose all our Present Trees. If we lose all our Present Trees then we won’t have any toys for Christmas and we can’t have that!”
The second elf, Wunorse Openslae, said that he saw a brilliant advertisement on his social media account. It said “Get Trees Quick: Learn how to grow trees 10 times faster!”
“We could attend this course and learn how to make the Present Trees grow faster and save Christmas!” said Wunorse Openslae excitedly.
Santa again loved that the elf was trying to help but said “Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!”
The last Elf to come up with an idea was Bushy Evergreen. He said, “I know! We could go to the Grinch. He will lend us enough Present Trees to ensure that we can make all the toys this Christmas!”
Santa knew that was an option but he said “Whilst it might save Christmas this year, we’ll have to pay back all those trees and more to the Grinch in the future. So, whilst we might be saving Christmas this year, it will probably mean we’ll be ruining Christmas for many years in the future! Just what the Grinch wants!”
Santa thanked the three Elves, Shimmy Upatree, Wunorse Openslae and Bushy Evergreen, for their ideas and decided he needed some rest and went home.
Mrs Claus to the rescue!
When he returned home, he sat in his chair by the fire. Mrs Claus walked into the room and could see how upset Santa was.
Santa told her about the problem with the Present Trees due to the unusually warm weather.
Mrs Claus responded, “Remember many years ago, you started giving children a few seeds at Christmas?”
“I do” Santa responded, slightly confused.
“You told the children to plant some of their seeds on the first Saturday of the New Year so by the time they became adults they too would have their own trees. Those children are now adults and have their own trees. Why don’t you ask them to help you?”
“You’re right!! You’ve just saved Christmas Mrs Claus!!” as Santa picked her up and spun her around the room in excitement!
Santa asked those adults, he had given seeds to many years before, if they would be happy to help use some of their Present Trees to give their children some presents that Christmas.
They said “Of course! We planted those seeds in case of emergencies and to help others, so we are more than happy to help!”
That Christmas, Santa decided that one of the presents he would give to all children wasn’t going to be a toy but instead a small packet of seeds. With the seeds, he left a message saying:
“Make sure you plant some of these seeds on the first Saturday of the New Year, they will come in very handy when you grow up!”
Message to parents:
I hope you’ll enjoy reading this story to your kids.
Make sure you help them understand the many different money lessons that are embedded throughout the story (avoid gambling, scams and debt, make your money work for you, have an emergency fund and importantly, help others).
One of the key lessons is for kids to see the Christmas money they receive as the small packet of seeds from Santa. If these seeds (money) are planted (saved) they will grow and help them and others in the future. So, if you haven’t already, help your kids set up a savings or, better still, an investment account so they can start seeing their money grow. For more on the importance of saving some of their pocket money and investing please read this blog.
Below I have provided links so you can expand on the other money topics embedded in this story (as I hope you’ll read this story many times)
Elf 1 - Shimmy Upatree - "The White Witch of Narnia" - Gambling
Elf 2 - Wunorse Openslae - “Grow Trees Quick” - Scams
Elf 3 - Bushy Evergreen - “The Grinch” - Debt
Parent’s Trees - Emergency Fund and Happiness
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Last point: If you want your kids to grow up Wealthy, buy them a copy of Grandpa's Fortune Fables this Christmas.
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