There are so many Christmas traditions in families and in
our world. As we are approach the end of
the 2nd week of advent one tradition has been in my thoughts, Santa
Claus. There has been two moments of awe the past couple weeks of
the mystery and magic of Santa. You probably don’t remember the first
time you realized who Santa was, but you can probably remember realizing who
Santa really was. With a 13 year old
and a 2 year old in our house I have experienced both realizations this year.
One morning this December I tried to encourage my 2 year old
to do better going potty on the toilet by offering that maybe Santa would bring
her some new underwear for Christmas .
She looked at me and said, “Who’s Santa?” I imagine she was too young
last year to remember. This made me excited for the years of fun Santa would
bring. The nights of quietly laying in bed hoping to hear Santa’s bell. The
hurry to get to bed early on Christmas Eve only to find you are not able to
fall asleep. Once you are finally asleep waking multiply times throughout the
night waiting for it to be a “reasonable” hour to wake Mom and Dad. After two
Christmas celebrations with Santa visiting, I think she now recognizes Santa
Claus.
Last week I was driving our 13 year old to school and decided I to ask
if he wanted to sit on Santa’s lap at the family reunion this year. At the
reunion parents provide gifts to Santa and he calls them all up by name. Last
year he was one of the oldest to still go up, though he seemed fine with it I didn’t
want to embarrass him. He responded, “Not really.” I could see a little
disappointment in his eyes and felt it in my heart. Even though it hadn’t been discussed
officially I knew he didn’t believe in Santa. I remember when I stopped believing, how bad I
wanted my logical thoughts to go away and telling friends Santa is a big part
of the spirit of
Christmas and I still believed in that.
So I went on to talk to him about how St. Nicholas was a real person and
it is his spirit of giving that has formed the tradition of Santa Claus and been
handed down through generations for parents to keep alive. He looked at me through eyes of a child saying
are you telling me there is no Santa Claus and eyes of a teenager saying I know
mom! I had to hold back the tears. I know he knew the truth. He was the same
kid who has picked up the slack for our less than adequate tooth fairy making the
on time delivery of money to his younger brother. I think he felt like I did, now that I said
it out loud he knew I knew and that made it real. I told him I loved him, dropped
him at school, and shed a few tears on the way home.
I now have one child who is learning about the the jolly
fellow in a red suit that flies a sleigh with reindeer and one who the belief is
beyond logical thoughts. I did later inform him that Santa still brings
presents to all in the family even if they are too old to sit on Santa’s lap.
“Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me as it
does for all who truly believe.” The Polar Express
Santa is magical for all ages in different ways. When we
left the reunion last Sunday there was a gift for our 13 year old in the van
with a tag reading From: Santa. When the
other kids saw it he said, “Hey Mom, Santa must have found my gift in his slay
when he left”. He is now just part of the magic, not to mention he gets to
sample the stash of Christmas candy :).
A couple of fun stories of Christmas symbols:
The Poinsettia: http://justforkidsmagazine.com/poinsettia.html
