Santa Claus Is Coming to Town… or Is He?

by Holly Homer on December 23rd, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Santa...

...I neither confirm or deny.

I walk the fence of fantasy ambiguity. I answer questions with questions and wildly elaborate scenarios. The questions work temporarily. The elaborate scenarios confuse the questioner and entertain me.

I think the whole Santa issue is fun. It is the ultimate inside joke. Kids seem to get that and eventually play along.

Well, that was my theory.

Ryan, my oldest, has been questioning Santa, the North Pole, the Christmas eve schedule, and the viability of reindeer as a source of transportation since birth.

But Ryan questions EVERYTHING. EVERY DAY.

Not surprisingly, Ryan’s inquisition doesn’t seem to raise doubts in the other boys. I think they just figure it is just another thing Ryan is asking a lot of questions about.

Rhett, my youngest who is 5, has bought into the whole Santa thing. He loves the story. He loves to think about the when, where and why of Santa.

I always figured that Reid, my middle child, would be my ultimate Santa believer. His normal thoughts and actions usually have very little to do with reality. The North Pole seems like just another dream location for his mind to visit.

And then this…

Rhett comes SCREAMING and CRYING into the kitchen.

*sobbing*

*hysterical talk*

It boiled down to this – Santa died!

WHAT?

After calming, he related that Reid told him that Santa died.

WHAT?

Reid?

REID!

Reid, why did you tell your brother that Santa died?

Mom, his real name is St. Nicholas and he lived like thousands of years ago…no one lives thousands of years.

And this is where my original plan of answering questions with questions and wildly elaborate scenarios died right along with Santa.

After Holly's version of Santa grief counseling concluded, she found that she only has one believer remaining. She will be vigorously protecting that dream over the next few days. Despite their skepticism, her older two actively participate in receiving gifts, eating Christmas treats and opening the Lego Advent Calendar.