Santa was kind of an after thought for us in our family. Not that we were militantly focused on the "Reason for the Season", we just didn't make a huge deal out of keeping Santa alive past the first tender years when EVERYTHING is magical and believable. We wrote our wish lists to the elves and set cookies out for Santa when we were wee ones, but its been so long I've almost forgotten how to believe. Kinda like Peter Pan in the movie, Hook, when he's trying to remember how to play pretend.
Jason's family, on the other hand has managed to maintain the magic (like my alliteration? ;) ). We had Rudy's birthday party there last week and Mom had the house all decked out for Christmas. I bet she's got at least a hundred Santa's adorning her floors, walls, tree, window sills, shelves, chairs, etc. etc. etc. It was GREAT! It felt so festive and so...so...so magical, I guess.
As Jason and I have been discussing how we want to put Christmas on for our own family and the traditions we want to tie to this lovely holiday, he has had to keep reminding me about Santa. I'd make a suggestion, not even thinking about whether that would jeopardize our children's belief in the fairy tale we call Santa. Jason would say something like, "that sounds great, but how about we tweak it here or there so that it doesn't blatantly scream 'there is NO Santa Claus!'" Oh yeah. That Santa guy.
So I've been trying to get back into the Santa tradition. I've been reading Santa Claus books to Rudy, and I've been trying to beef up my knowledge about what Santa does, where he lives, what his reindeer are named. It's a fun traditional story. One that our culture still likes to tell, and I see value in that. If Rudy ever looks me right in the eye and asks if Santa is real, I don't think I could answer in the affirmative, though. Maybe I'll just tell him that's a question for Grandma. I want our children to cherish Christmas because it celebrates the coming of our Savior into the world. I want them to cherish it because it means family getting together and sharing loving memories with each other. And I also want them to cherish it because it's a magical time of year.
Here's to Jolly Old Saint Nicholas!
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