Keeping the Magic of Santa Alive
Are some kids really wired to believe and some not?
My husband and I are not the sneakiest parents around but we try pretty hard to keep Santa alive in the imaginations and hearts of Ella (age 10) and Billy (age 8). Ella has always been a tough-sell.
Ella never smiled in her Santa pictures. And as soon as she could talk, she instructed us to place her Christmas stocking on the porch (same for her Easter basket). Santa was welcome to leave her treats outside but was not welcome to come inside the house. He could drink his milk and cookies just fine while sitting on the porch swing.
In kindergarten, Santa left Ella a map that she had to piece together. It led to Paw Paw and Grandma’s house for presents. She seemed skeptical even though the map edges were burned a bit to give the map an antique sort of look.
In the third grade, Ella just happened to stumble onto a box of wrapped gifts—wrapped in the super secret special Santa paper (parent gifts are always wrapped in paper different from Santa gifts at our house, seriously Ella notices these things). So even with the Santa gifts re-wrapped before the big day, you could see the quiet doubt on her face, and a little bit of a smirk as her little brother Billy squealed with excitement.
Last year Ella pretty much threw down the gauntlet with the dramatic air quotes for “Santa” on a regular basis in front of her little brother. We decided to fight dirty even after she looked us in the eye with a straight-up—“Explain how Santa can be real, explain it, right now.” I would respond weakly with an “I don’t know everything and certainly there could be a real Santa-like person somewhere in the world.”
On Christmas morning 2009, we handed Ella the camera with a nonchalant “you should show Grandma all the pictures we took this morning.” They scrolled through the photos and came to a picture of Saint Nick himself. Santa had taken a picture of himself with Billy’s camera, an awesome picture. How cool is that? Well, Billy was super excited. Ella not so much.
Just a few weeks ago, Billy heard a commercial on the radio making a joke on whether Santa was real or not. He says to me: “I have proof that Santa is real, he took a picture of himself with my camera. I wish he had taken a picture of the reindeer.”
I kind of gulped to myself. This kid, this kid has been begging to go deer hunting and at the same time wishes Santa had included the reindeer? And he still really believes. I can’t think this will end very merry?
Catherine Calhoun is a writer and mother who lives in Saint Francisville, Louisiana. She has a BA in political science and a law degree. She stepped away from law in 2006 when her son was diagnosed with a complex health condition and quickly jumped online for information and support, never looking back. Catherine absolutely loves building and being a part of online and offline communities. She clicks and clacks at http://www.supercatcalhoun.com/.
