Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy are fun magical characters that many children enjoy celebrating. Some parents do not celebrate the magic of these stories simply because they do not want to deceive their children. Which I totally understand. Many parents do not celebrate these characters because of their religion. I get it. Some parents do celebrate these stories because it brings such an innocent joy and magic to the lives of our children. Beau and I are those kind of parents. Let's face it, once you become parents, you enjoy Christmas just a little differently. Parents get pleasure from watching the excitement in their children's eyes on Christmas morning. In any case, I feel that however you choose to handle "Santa, the Bunny, and the Fairy" is your prerogative as parents. The saying, "To Each His Own".
Zander has always been a matter of fact kind of kid. I don't remember the age, but Zander came to us one day, just after Christmas, and announced that he knew there was not a Santa Claus. In fact, he claimed to have known for a couple of years, but he didn't want to risk not receiving anything for Christmas. In his mind, kids didn't receive toys if they didn't believe in Santa.
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| Zander's last year believing in Santa |
Two years ago, our little William was questioning the validity of Santa. He would ask us little prying questions about how Santa delivered packages to homes without chimneys or how could his sleigh hold toys for all the boys and girls of the world. These are very common questions children ask as they become a little more aware. But William was kind of young still and Beau and I wanted to keep the magic alive a little longer.
Perhaps we enjoyed his innocence too and weren't ready to "educate" William yet. But his questions began to lead to comparisons of Jesus. Being a new Christian and recently baptized, William began to innocently put Jesus and Santa in the same category. This is when Beau and I realized that although we made serious efforts to gently guide William through this process without divulging the "big secret", we quickly came to the conclusion that William wasn't satisfied with our flimsy story. It was time to "educate" him of our deceit. As it turned out, he handled it with great maturity and he was actually thrilled to be part of the conspiracy. He was also obedient in that he didn't tell his brothers or classmates. The whole process went more smoothly than we expected and it helped William place God back into his rightful spot....highest of high and on the throne.
Fast forward two years. To the present. Oliver has decided that he wants an expensive kids motorbike for Christmas. I have explained at great lengths that Beau and I do not believe that a motorbike is an appropriate gift for a 7 year old, not to mention the financial implications that come with such a gift. Besides, we would have to buy 3 bikes. You know, to prevent the endless bickering over who gets the next turn, making sure each child gets equal time on the bike down to the second. I get nightmares just thinking about it. So Oliver's little 7 year old mind came up with a simple solution. He is going to ask Santa for the gift so it will be free. Wow. The Santa Claus gig is backfiring. Now, with many kids, parents can successfully redirect their children and after a short while the child will move on to the next thing. But not our Ollie. He is like a dog with a bone, only 100x worse. Literally. He fixates on things until pure exhaustion. At this point, this motorbike fixation has lasted weeks. It doesn't help that one of the houses we pass regularly on our outings has a young boy with a motorbike and we see him riding it around the farm often.
One evening during a dinner conversation, Oliver brought it up again. I was so glad that Beau was here to witness and be part of the conversation. Because of the timing of many of my previous conversations with Ollie, Beau was at work and missed most of the fixation. Anyway, Beau is usually really good at finding the right words to lovingly nip the conversation. But not this time. Even Carter joined in with the whole Santa Claus can bring it for free theory. Then the final mistake happened. Carter said he would ask Jesus. That comment led to a whole list of questions about the difference between Jesus and Santa. Beau and I were losing traction. He and I just looked at each other and knew what had to be done. William just sat there silently the whole time with an all-knowing smirk and just kept eating his dinner.
Beau, as delicately as he could, delivered the news. Ollie handled it in full Ollie style. He found it humorous and was glad to be a part of the grown-up plot. It was amusing to watch his eyes twinkle as he was figuring it all out in his mind. But our poor Carter. He was devastated. He wailed out in these exact words, "My life as I knew it is over"! Yes, he has a thing for theatrics and can be quite dramatic. However, he was genuinely saddened. But Beau and I knew that if Ollie had to keep it a secret from Carter, that would have maybe lasted for seconds.
Santa is fun and Christmas is magical, but that should never be confused with the true gift of life and our source of happiness, our Savior. Our Ollie and Carter will be alright and Christmas will be a little different this year, but at least they will come to better understand the importance of Jesus.
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Poor Carter's expression when he learned of the conspiracy
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