I Believe in Santa Claus
Someone I know told me today how her nine year old son recently realized Santa Claus wasn’t real. He wanted to see the movie Fred Claus and because he wanted to see it, he wanted to learn about it. So he read a newspaper article. The article was an interview with Vince Vaughn saying how he had learned that Santa didn’t exist. That went over well……
I learned Santa wasn’t real in an odd way, too. I was 8 years old and I was playing with a teddy bear that I distinctly remembered getting from Santa Claus at Christmas. I looked at the tag for some reason and it said “Made in China.” Now, I was a smart kid, so I knew that Santa made his toys in the North Pole, not in China. So I went to ask my mom why it said “Made in China.” The look on her face told me everything I needed to know. She tried to give me a reasonable explanation, but it wasn’t working; I knew and she knew I knew. I cried so hard! It was even more distressing because logical thought naturally led me to the realization that the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy didn’t exist either. Talk about disillusionment. So Mom had to change tactics; instead of telling me he existed, she told me the Spirit of Santa existed. I’ll never forget this because I think it eased my acceptance of Santa’s non-existence (is that a word?). She told me that as long as the spirit of giving existed, so would the spirit of Santa. I liked that idea, and it’s what I’ve believed ever since.
If anyone has any interesting stories about their own disillusionment, I would love to hear it.
Posted in Random Thoughts | 4 Comments »
November 14th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I don’t remember how it happened for me, but I do remember conducting on-going debates during the holiday season in my kindergarten year. I distinctly remember walking the halls from recess back to class and having animated discussions with my classmates about why or why not Santa did not exist.
Ah, memories.
I still talk to my little brothers about Santa even though they’re now 12 and 14 years old and just roll their eyes at me.
Whatever! So what if the handwriting on the To/From tags looks like their parents’ writing?
November 14th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
That’s some intense discussion for kindergarteners!
Yeah, I don’t even know what my little brother thinks about it; he’s 11. I’ll have to find out from him (if) when he found out Santa Claus wasn’t real.
My parents actually wrote with their left hands to disguise it. And it was always all in capital letters.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Jena!!! I can just imagine you! conducting organized debates on the Santa topic! Cute!
Well, I was told when I was four, so my Santa memories are really short! But I remember my mom telling me I wasn’t allowed to tell me friends… I always felt so mature around christmas… however looking back now, I truly felt I missed out on something
March 9th, 2008 at 3:05 am
I didn’t know your mom used the Spirit of Santa. That’s what my mom told me when I found out too…it really did help and I can still honestly tell Hailey and Ian there is a Santa and about the spirit of christmas.