Christmas Memories

Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus: in our house – we believed!  And the joy and happiness from believing in these beings have made for the best memories in our family.  By the time a child is old enough to comprehend that there is a guy named Santa, who lives at the North Pole, makes toys, employs elves, drives a sleigh powered by reindeer and works really, really hard one night a week – that kid is around three-years-old.  When the same kid figures out that this is not a practical, believable, method of gift delivery, the child is seven or eight-years-old.  The magical number of years for a child to believe is four to five.  That is a very short time in the life of a child.  For some kids, who are very sick, it is even shorter.

One of my best memories was the Christmas of 1975.  My mother had delivered my baby sister on Dec. 20^th.  Back then, you stayed in the hospital for many days.  My mom was scheduled to come home on Christmas Day.  Well, for a five-year-old, this was not good news.  My dad and older brother informed me that Santa would be delayed in bringing me my presents.  Dad had put in a special call to the North Pole to explain the situation.  Santa would not be coming Christmas Eve.  (FYI: in my selfish five-year-old heart, I was already mad at my sister who I had not even met yet!)  Sure enough, Christmas morning came and I awoke to nothing under the tree.  My brother though, who was 15 at the time, was going about in such a way to let me know that something exciting was about to happen.   The phone rang.  I was told Santa was on the phone!  He would be at my house in 20 minutes!  I needed to go to my room and wait!  People – this was so much better than the Christmas Eve routine.  I would be awake when Santa came!  I WAS EXCITED.  Five minutes later, I heard something outside; strange sounds, feet maybe and some bells.  A few minutes later, there were noises coming from the family room - but no voices.  After what seemed like forever, my brother came and told me I could come out of my room.  Santa was gone and my presents were waiting for me.  I ran down the hall, into the family room and there sat my mom on the couch and a white bassinet was in the middle of the room.  Inside the bassinet was my baby sister.  My presents were under the tree but I did not pay attention to them.  I was totally taken with the dark-headed little bundle of sibling that had arrived with Santa.  

As an adult, when I think back to that Christmas, I realize and understand all the work that my parents, my brother and the neighbors put into making that morning special for me.  Guess what – it totally worked!  I am grateful they did it.  I would not trade those memories for anything.  I only got a few more magical Christmas mornings before I figured it all out but I kept the secret of Santa for my sister.  In doing so, I realized how much fun it was to be Santa.  And I am grateful my brother kept it for me.  Thanks big bro!  (By the way, Mom, I want to know the other people involved in helping make that morning special.) 

In all the jobs of parenthood, being Mrs. Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy have been my favorite.  Alas, I must admit now though that I did not do my job as the tooth fairy one time with my daughter.  She was upset and very confused when she awoke in the morning and discovered her tooth was under her pillow.  Oh, you should have heard the story I told her as an explanation.  (The tooth fairy came the next night with extra money!)  And last week, my son lost a tooth.  His dad handed him cash on the spot – that was easy.

During this time of year, my kids still hear me say that Mrs. Claus needs to go shopping.  They know I am going to buy gifts for them.  They smile really big, give me a hug, ask no questions and tell me to have a good time.   There are no more cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  My children protect the secret of Santa.  More importantly, they do for others when possible, share the love of Jesus and know what is most important about this time of year.  Being with family, those we love, and remembering that God sent His Son to earth as a baby, to become a man, die on the cross for our sins, be resurrected, so that we can have eternal life -  Amen!

I have many friends who do not do the magical figures and I want you to know that I respect your decision.  Each family knows what is right for them.  If you are curious though about how my husband and I had the ‘talk’ with our kids about Santa, Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, I will be happy to tell you in person.  It would be too complicated to write about.  It went very well for both of them.  Neither of them felt betrayed, lied too, conned, suckered, or any other negative adjective you might associate with the reveal.  Now they keep the secret and have fun with it with their younger friends and family.

What is your favorite Christmas memory?  Does your family incorporate Santa into Christmas?

Christmas countdown – 14 days to go!