Welcome to this holiday themed episode – Episode 10 – of Saint Nick & Rick Christmas’s Excellent EdVenture!

Episode 10 begins a little less festive with Nick sharing wisdom gleaned from poor potty decision-making. Rick follows that up by talking family card games.

Rick Christmas shares a reading of this week’s holiday-themed blog entitled “Wrestling with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Saint Nick reflects a bit on the Bible story account of Jacob wrestling with God before going on to talk about managing his “past-orientation.” Rick talks a bit about his “future orientation” along with the accompanying advantages and disadvantages.

In the “Building the Brochure” segment, Dr. Nick and Dr. Rick continue their investigation into Search Institute’s research on the 40 Developmental Assets. This week, they share experiences and reactions to the assets number Seventeen: Creative Activities-Young person spends three or more hours per week in lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts. This is then followed by developmental asset number Eighteen: Youth Programs-Young person spends three or more hours per week in sports, clubs, or organizations at school and/or in the community. Nick shares research on the academic impact of kids’ participation in school based programming – sports and/or the arts. Rick cautions parents from thinking irrationally about how overwhelming it can be to try to be the perfect parent, talking about his experiences getting his son into a karate program.

The holiday-themed Every Rose has Its Thorn topic comes courtesy of regular listener – Holly – who challenges the guys this week to select their favorite and least favorite Christmas movies and specials. Nick makes a bold and controversial choice for this thorn – A Christmas Story, while Rick offers a few least favorites, including the new Spirited. The guys agree on the thorny nature of the Frosty the Snowman sequel. For favorites, Saint Nick selects classic The Santa Clause movies and offers up little known Jim Henson special – The Christmas Toy – for consideration. Rick struggles to narrow it down and ends up reading off a laundry list of specials and movies before settling on It’s a Wonderful Life as his all-time number one.

The last segment finds the guys digging back into the e-mailbag to respond to more fan questions. The first question comes from listeners stationed in Germany whose son is having difficulty adjusting to life outside the states. One of the teachers at Nick’s school provides an incredibly thoughtful and wise response that would benefit any parent or family in similar circumstances. Both guys then respond to a question about who they would pick to play them in a movie.

Enjoy this holiday-themed version of Saint Nick and Rick Christmas’s Excellent EdVenture!