So, this is my first ever blog….finally set one up and its Christmas Eve today! So what am I doing blogging instead of preparing for the celebration? Well, I’m laid up in bed with one of those nasty colds, a Lemsip on my side table, tissues by my side and a laptop. What better time than now to start my first blog.
So it is ‘Merry Christmas’ tomorrow, and not ‘Happy Holidays’! I love Christmas because we’re all set to enjoy family get together and presents of course! However we must not forget that the real reason for this celebration is about the birth of Jesus, not just about Santa, snowmen, reindeers etc although lovely would not mean much without the real reason for celebrating.
Before the children came along Christmas was not as colourful. It had lost its sparkle since I found out the truth about Santa when I was 6 years old 😦 As a teen and young adult it was such an effort and a chore to set up the Christmas tree, although the pressies always made up for it.
Now in my family the magical sparkling Christmas is back again! And how can it not be with my two energetic enthusiastic little girls in the house.
The thing is, why do I feel uncomfortable about the whole make-believe ‘Santa is bringing presents’ story? Children of today are pretty clued up and bring on the guilty feelings with all their Santa questions. My eldest is as inquisitive as ever in her tender 7 years of age and is asking too many questions about Santa that leads me deeper and deeper into the make-believe story. I teach them not to tell lies, so how do I deal with this?
I’ve tried not to add too much flowery detail to the Santa visit. Keeping it magical yes, but simple was always what I thought was best. However the whole commercialisation of it and culture has pulled me deeper into it unwillingly. For example, I was not one to leave a carrot and a glass of milk for Santa, but after a visit to Santa’s grotto last year, Santa made that a special request to the girls. Now, mummy here has to have a carrot and a glass of Ribena every Christmas Eve (girls thought Santa would prefer Ribena but Tesco’s own brand).
What about if parents should decide to tell their child that there is no Santa, there is no magic? Should they then tell their child to pretend at school for the sake of the Santa believers in their class? Or just not talk about it? Would a pre-schooler understand or feel left out? Would other parents respect your decision? Or would you face their wrath should your child tell their child there is no Santa? What should a parent do in this situation? Are we being ruled by the culture surrounding us and ultimately taking the decision out of our hands?
Dana Pierre 