Believe in the Magic
Santa Claus.
Saint Nicholas.
Father Christmas.
Pere Noel.
There are as many names for the jolly man in red (although, he doesn’t always wear red depending on which country you are from) as there are countries in the world. And children around the world wait with anticipation for his visit on Christmas Eve. Do you have children? Do they believe? Eyes wide when they see Santa in the mall. Perhaps a bit of anxiety at actually talking to The Big Guy. It can be both touching and frustrating when all you want is that one photo and they are cowering behind your coat tails. When did they stop believing? What about you? What did you believe growing up?
Growing up in Britain, far off lands overseas, and finally Canada, we played along with the tales of Santa Claus but I’ve got to say, I don’t remember a time of ever believing he was a real person. We always woke up to a stocking full of toys (and underwear – wasn’t that de rigueur when you were a kid?) and a present under the tree with Santa’s name on the tag. But as far as being kept in line all December by fears of being put on his naughty list, we were immune. (My mother had ‘a look’ that was good enough to put the fear of God into us!) On Christmas morning we’d take turns being Santa’s Elf – getting to hand out the presents to our family. Hugs were given to our parents to say thank you for all the gifts – including the ones from Santa. It was still a magical time but I think it had more to do with being surrounded by family, friends, lots of good food to eat, and new toys to play with than any elf, reindeer, or flying sleigh.
I’ve already talked about our Elf on The Shelf – a tradition we started in 2013, but the myth and magic that is Santa Claus is in a whole different bracket for our children. Our eldest daughter knows the truth. She had to be brought in on the secret of Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy several years ago after a particularly nasty tantrum over the Easter Bunny! (It’s a funny story (now) but not relevant to this topic so I’ll save it for a blog post sometime.) She’s now 11 and this Christmas took over the decorating, the moving of our Elf, and helping to keep the secret from our other two girls. Bless her! Our middle daughter is 9 but lives in a world inhabited by fairies, elves, toys that come to life, dragons, and most definitely, Santa Claus! She was told the truth about the Tooth Fairy this year in a misguided attempt by my husband to keep her safe from ridicule at school (what does he know??!) It nearly destroyed her! But in the end, my 11 year old rescued the situation with the simple statement “do you really think Mom and Dad would give us all that chocolate at Easter or all those presents at Christmas? Of course Santa and the Easter Bunny are real!”
So you see, he must be real!
Watch as I take this sketch and document a visit to Santa.
I’m not sure how much longer our middle daughter will believe but for now, we will embrace all things magic!
Now it’s your turn. Tell your story of magic, or Santa, or something else you remember as being an important part of your childhood. Then link to your layout in the comments below or pop over to my Facebook page and tell us there. Can’t wait to read your memories!
Happy Scrapping!
