Christmas Memories

I still remember the year my brother, 3 years older than I, informed me there was no Santa Claus. Upon receiving this news-flash, I immediately went to my mother. I knew my brother would have no problem lying to me, but my mother, I could trust her. I cannot honestly recall all the details, but history tells it like this. I asked my mother for the truth and she told me the sad news that, no, there really wasn’t a Santa Claus.

Dramatic child that I was, my next question came. “Why do big people lie to little kids?”  Then it hit me, “Well, I guess there goes the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy too!”  In one moment, Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, and the tooth fairy had all bit the dust. The truth was revealed. I was shocked and disappointed.

That year I did not look forward to Christmas with the usual excitement. A Christmas without a Santa Claus (sounds like a movie). When Christmas came and I found the usual amount of presents under the tree, it certainly eased my pain.

My sister was born when I was 10 years old. My parents resolved they would not tell her the Santa myth. They were probably afraid she might be as emotionally unpredictable as her older sister. This made her difficult to take shopping during the Christmas season. When you are a child, the checkout ladies enjoy asking what Santa is going to bring you for Christmas. One time while shopping with our Grandpa my sister was asked the ever-popular question. “There is no Santa Claus! My Dad and Mom are the ones who buy me presents,” she loudly replied. Grandpa always laughed as he recalled the mother with her young child, standing in line behind them. “Oh, we believe in Santa Claus!”  the mother firmly said, trying to keep my sister’s revelation from her child.

I also decided I would not tell my children the Santa myth. I had a few reasons. One being the fact that I remembered being so disappointed and I didn’t want to look into my children’s faces when the truth was revealed. Another reason was I did not want to buy all the gifts and then give some guy in a red suit all the credit! But my most important reason was I taught my children about a God they could not see. If I told them about a Santa Claus and other mythical characters that gave them things, then they may decide God could also be one of those individuals found only in the imagination. In fact, you can actually see Santa and the Easter bunny each season, sad representations though they may sometimes be. But God, you can only see Him with the eyes of faith.

You may think I am way too dramatic, and of course I usually am. I am not judging anyone who has chosen to teach the Santa myth. Most of us believed it and still turned out fine. I don’t think I can blame the Santa story for my strange personality traits.

Even though my kids always knew Santa didn’t bring them presents, Christmas wouldn’t have felt complete without our family gathering around the television to watch a few of our favorite Santa Claus movies.