At seven and five respectively, my son and daughter are not overly suspicious about Santa Claus. Though some things have had to be explained to them to keep the magic going, the actual idea of Santa Claus coming to our house on Christmas Eve and leaving toys for them is pretty set in stone.
The other Santa’s around town are easily explained away by telling my kids that those Santas are just the real Santa’s helpers because he’s far too busy to visit each and every town during the month of December. So while the Santas we see at the store are not the “real Santa,” they do have a direct link and can easily report back to the big man any details about Christmas wishes.
Ever since my niece was born my husband has dressed up like Santa on Christmas Eve to drop off one present for each child in the family to kick off our family Christmas Eve celebration. This tradition continued after our own kids were born. When my son was five he asked if daddy was Santa. Once again, quick thinking saved the day.
We admitted that daddy dresses up like Santa for fun because the real Santa is already out delivering toys on the other side of the world at that time and is nowhere near California. NORAD tracking systems easily help prove this theory.
Both kids were more then happy with that explanation and were even willing to keep the secret for the sake of their younger cousins.
All this is well and good and has enable us to help encourage the magic of Santa and of Christmas in our home. But I know that the day will come when my kids realize that there is no Santa. And it breaks my heart.
Which is why, I don’t intend on ever actually confirming the reality.
How do I do this you wonder? Well the same my way that my dad, though I am now in my thirties with kids of my own, has never completely owned up to the truth about Santa.
When I was a kid and finally cornered my dad and demanded answers in regards to Santa’s true identity, he gave me the same answer that he would go on to repeat to me a thousand times in the coming years.
“Do you believe there’s a Santa?”
As my tender grade school heart was still not sure, I told my dad, “I think I do.”
And he said, “Well then he does.” And with a wink he ended the conversation.
Of course I figured out the truth, and for a couple more years kept it to myself because I had a younger sibling. But because of the way my dad handled it, somehow the magic of Santa didn’t entirely disappear. Somehow there was always this question in the back of my mind…
Somehow even after all these years, for all you Polar Express lovers, I can still hear the bell. And of all the things I will ever do for my kids is make sure that they will somehow always hear that bell also.
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{ 13 comments }
We pretty much got around this by just deciding not to worry about lies. We don't invite the guy in the red suit for Christmas and do cover the various stories of St. Nicholas, Sinter Klass, Sankt Niklaus, and so on. I'd rather not worry about times later in life when my kid remembers that we kept some sort of game going while we're trying to impart values and advice. Besides, for us, we don't really like the focus being so heavy on "getting". There's just more to life than that. We do give presents, but we keep them to a minimum and try to enjoy our time as a family and/or with friends rather than numbers and quality of gifts.
We don't rain on anyone else's games, but we've decided not to take part in this particular one. (Though the various stories, traditions, and such can be very interesting topics.)
My parents never told me that there was a Santa, and I probably wont tell my kids there is one too. We want credit for our gifts
Just saw the Santa's on tv. A very 'white' Christmas I noticed. I personally don't have an issue with that, however, when it's stated that they imbrace all cultures around the world a slightly brown Santa doesn't really cut it.
Hey, I don't get it on all the Santa stuff. Never have, never will.
We believe in letting the true meaning of Christmas shine out… after all, Jesus is the reason for the season!!
I stopped celebrating the holidays as kid. I never got lots of presents so the season didn't matter compared to others getting everything they want
My child doesn't believe in Santa. It really doesn't bother me that he doesn't.
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I LOVE the Santa Clause tradition and leave a couple presents under the tree from Santa for my daughter. My grandparents use to do the same tradition as your family. They'd hire someone to come xmas eve and deliver 1 present to each grandchild (6 of us). My grandparents have passed on and 2 of us grandkids have kids of our own now. Im hoping to continue this tradition as well when my daughter is a little older.
My 7 yr old still believes! Friend has 3 kids 12, 10, 8 who all still believe!
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