Reindeer Dust: How to Guide Rudolf and Team to Your Home

by Signe Whitson, LSW on December 14th, 2010 | No Comments »

The magic of Christmas is all around us. Reindeer flying, Santa delivering wishes in one night, and the joy seen in everyone's eyes. This Burl Ives classic is usually the first televised Christmas special each year and we’ve made a tradition of doing it up right—holiday PJ’s, buttery popcorn, and hot cocoa topped with whipped cream and red sprinkles. It’s no wonder that my daughters have a special place in their hearts for reindeer and I was not at all surprised last year when, upon setting out cookies and milk for Santa, they asked me, “What about the reindeer—what should we leave for them?”

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Ahhh, my compassionate little animal lovers! We concluded that baby carrots would be a great snack. Since it was already 8pm on Christmas Eve and the little ones knew they needed to get to bed so that Santa could arrive, we settled on leaving the carrots on our driveway and not attempting to put them on the roof. (Phew!)

Never one to let a problem be solved easily, however, my younger daughter asked how the reindeer would know to look on the driveway for food. My older daughter piped in with the suggestion that we leave “Reindeer Dust” to light the way to their special treats. Easy, right? (It had to be—we still had scooters to assemble!) Indeed, it was the simplest thing we did all night! We mixed simple sugar with red sprinkles (leftover from the hot cocoa party) and then added craft glitter for an extra sparkle. Much to my surprise and to my children’s delight, my husband found this little rhyme online:

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Sprinkle on the lawn at night; the moon will make it sparkle bright. Santa’s reindeer fly and roam. This will guide them to your home.

I guess my daughters weren’t the first to think up “Reindeer Dust.” It was news to me, though! I love this new little tradition of including the reindeer in our Christmas eve preparations—better yet, I look forward to another year of watching my husband tiptoe outside in his PJ’s at midnight, to take a bite out of each frozen carrot. The things we do to make Christmas magical!

By Signe Whitson, LSW. Creating magic for her family and others are what she does best. Her advice has been featured on many parenting sites to demonstrate better ways to bond and communicate with children. As a mom, family therapist, author, blogger and Master Trainer for the Life Space Crisis Institute - she dedicates her work to improve the future for families. Find more of her advice on her blog about the passive aggressive communication all around us. Her advice is brought to you by My Baby Clothes Boutique - your one stop holiday shop for everything needed for the angels in your lives. Holiday newborn hats, holiday baby clothes with matching little baby headbands it doesn't get any better.