My Troubles with Santa
My trouble with Santa is nothing like the murder & mayhem Kim & Brien confront in their first two Corsario Cove Cozy Mysteries. Dead, deadly, and dubious Santas intrude on their honeymoon bliss in Cowabunga Christmas and Gnarly New Year.
Cowabunga Christmas
Gnarly New Year
My Trouble with Santa as a 5-year-old Snoop
Still, I've had my troubles over the years. I was a little snoop and soon figured out who set out those presents and ate the cookies. Could I keep it to myself? Oh, heck no! I felt duty-bound to share the news with my younger brother. He didn’t take kindly to that and outed me as the 5-year-old Grinch that I was, trying to steal his Christmas. As I recall, the adults defended the myth and my brother got to hang onto his dream of a real Santa a bit longer.
By the next Christmas, however, while the other children slept, I was downstairs working as a Christmas elf alongside my parents as they played Santa. A co-conspirator role was every bit as much fun as waiting for Santa had been. Knowing the truth was a bit of a relief too.
My trouble with Santa had started before sneaking down those stairs and catching my parents in the act. I was an anxious child and it worried me that I was going to end up on the naughty list rather than the nice list. Besides, how could Santa make it to everyone’s house in one night—even with a sleigh and eight reindeer? What if you didn’t have a chimney or the roof couldn’t hold the weight of a sleigh full of presents? On and on and on, the questions grew, night after night. Snooping had seemed to be a perfectly reasonable way to answer some of the questions in my confused mind.
Trouble with Santa from a 6-year-old Cynic
The trouble with Santa didn’t stop there. A few years later when a younger brother was told the truth about Santa by his little friend, he was upset. So was I! This mercenary six-year-old had revealed the truth along with a rather cunning bit of advice.
“Make sure your parents think you still believe in Santa because you get more presents that way.”
He went on to explain what he meant. As a "believer," he got presents under the tree from his parents before Christmas, but more from Santa on the big night! I have no idea if what he said was true or not. In any case, I doubt that strategy could have worked much longer.
My Biggest Trouble with Santa
The biggest trouble for me with Santa came much later when I had children of my own. Should I play along? Children love to play make believe—and so do I. On the other hand, we want children to learn to be truthful from the get go. I also love the truth and believe, like my character Bernadette in the Jessica Huntington series: “The worst kind of truth is better than the best lie.” My husband is even more filled with scruples than I am about stretching the truth.
What to do? We tried to find and convey the truth in the story of Santa. There is a celebrated saint behind that old myth—St. Nicholas. He was beloved because of his generosity and joyous spirit of giving. We figured that spirit is, in fact, the truth behind Santa.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” as Francis Church wrote in his famous editorial published in the New York Sun back in 1891. He went on to describe all of the good things symbolized by Jolly Old St. Nick.
We tried to explain that it's the spirit of Christmas we celebrate each year in the story of Santa Claus. It's such a wonderful story, let's enjoy it! As it turned out, we never had much more of a conversation than that about Santa. Not until a 7-year-old Grinch wannabe divulged the truth to my kids [shades of my 5-year-old self back to haunt me].
“Santa’s not a real person, you know.”
“We know,” was their response. "Christmas is real. Santa's not, but it's fun to pretend." Something like that, anyway. Then they launched into a game of "You be Santa, and..."
In a secular and multicultural world, I still worry that Santa poses problems. Christmas excludes some kids, altogether, who don’t celebrate that holiday for religious reasons. What to do about Santa was also a big concern for their parents, as I learned when sorting out what to tell my children. A totally secular Santa is troubling sometimes, too. I worry that a Santa not rooted in a giving spirit pushes us toward the cynicism of that rascally 6-year-old.
What do you think? Do you have trouble with Santa? Did you believe he was real? How did you find out there wasn't really a Santa? What do you tell kids about Santa?
I’d love to hear from you. Find me on my website at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
Cowabunga Christmas
Gnarly New Year
My Trouble with Santa as a 5-year-old Snoop
Still, I've had my troubles over the years. I was a little snoop and soon figured out who set out those presents and ate the cookies. Could I keep it to myself? Oh, heck no! I felt duty-bound to share the news with my younger brother. He didn’t take kindly to that and outed me as the 5-year-old Grinch that I was, trying to steal his Christmas. As I recall, the adults defended the myth and my brother got to hang onto his dream of a real Santa a bit longer.
By the next Christmas, however, while the other children slept, I was downstairs working as a Christmas elf alongside my parents as they played Santa. A co-conspirator role was every bit as much fun as waiting for Santa had been. Knowing the truth was a bit of a relief too.
My trouble with Santa had started before sneaking down those stairs and catching my parents in the act. I was an anxious child and it worried me that I was going to end up on the naughty list rather than the nice list. Besides, how could Santa make it to everyone’s house in one night—even with a sleigh and eight reindeer? What if you didn’t have a chimney or the roof couldn’t hold the weight of a sleigh full of presents? On and on and on, the questions grew, night after night. Snooping had seemed to be a perfectly reasonable way to answer some of the questions in my confused mind.
Trouble with Santa from a 6-year-old Cynic
The trouble with Santa didn’t stop there. A few years later when a younger brother was told the truth about Santa by his little friend, he was upset. So was I! This mercenary six-year-old had revealed the truth along with a rather cunning bit of advice.
“Make sure your parents think you still believe in Santa because you get more presents that way.”
He went on to explain what he meant. As a "believer," he got presents under the tree from his parents before Christmas, but more from Santa on the big night! I have no idea if what he said was true or not. In any case, I doubt that strategy could have worked much longer.
My Biggest Trouble with Santa
The biggest trouble for me with Santa came much later when I had children of my own. Should I play along? Children love to play make believe—and so do I. On the other hand, we want children to learn to be truthful from the get go. I also love the truth and believe, like my character Bernadette in the Jessica Huntington series: “The worst kind of truth is better than the best lie.” My husband is even more filled with scruples than I am about stretching the truth.
What to do? We tried to find and convey the truth in the story of Santa. There is a celebrated saint behind that old myth—St. Nicholas. He was beloved because of his generosity and joyous spirit of giving. We figured that spirit is, in fact, the truth behind Santa.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” as Francis Church wrote in his famous editorial published in the New York Sun back in 1891. He went on to describe all of the good things symbolized by Jolly Old St. Nick.
We tried to explain that it's the spirit of Christmas we celebrate each year in the story of Santa Claus. It's such a wonderful story, let's enjoy it! As it turned out, we never had much more of a conversation than that about Santa. Not until a 7-year-old Grinch wannabe divulged the truth to my kids [shades of my 5-year-old self back to haunt me].
“Santa’s not a real person, you know.”
“We know,” was their response. "Christmas is real. Santa's not, but it's fun to pretend." Something like that, anyway. Then they launched into a game of "You be Santa, and..."
In a secular and multicultural world, I still worry that Santa poses problems. Christmas excludes some kids, altogether, who don’t celebrate that holiday for religious reasons. What to do about Santa was also a big concern for their parents, as I learned when sorting out what to tell my children. A totally secular Santa is troubling sometimes, too. I worry that a Santa not rooted in a giving spirit pushes us toward the cynicism of that rascally 6-year-old.
What do you think? Do you have trouble with Santa? Did you believe he was real? How did you find out there wasn't really a Santa? What do you tell kids about Santa?
I’d love to hear from you. Find me on my website at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
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Merry Christmas! :)