How to Survive Life in the Suburbs

Milking Santa For All He’s Worth

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santaclaus

*Warning.  Santa spoiler ahead. Not for little people.

Christmas is in 19 days! 

My girls are 11 and 9.

Do they still believe in the fat man who drops down the filthy chimney bringing presents to the good girls and boys while leaving lumps of coal to all the evil folks?

Hmmm At least one of them does.  The other is smart enough to keep her mouth shut, make her list and clean her room without being asked.  If you don’t believe, he can’t bring gifts, right?

These are the facts.

I’ve been lying to my kids about Jolly Ole Saint Nick for almost 12 years.  Me. The Mama who HATES liars.  Who values truth and honesty.  I’ve been not only lying, but force feeding the fairy tale of the magic man and loving every second of it.  Why do I do this?  Two reasons:

One.  Santa equals power.  The girls are “disagreeing” .  All that is needed is a gentle reminder that Santa is watching and said disagreement is over.  They don’t want to clean up their toys?  Oh well, guess Santa can’t bring any new ones.  Ta Da!  Toy room is clean!  No nagging!  Not only that these children help with laundry, offer to shovel the driveway, empty the dishwasher, carry each others book bags?  Huh?    Random acts of kindness are rampant around here.  Santa throws big bad weight in this house.

The second reason I am crushing on the big man.  Thanks to Santa I get to see my babies eyes light up when they are sure those are reindeer prints in the front yard.  Witness sheer delight when they are positive the scratch at the window was an elf running away before we saw him.  I am able to capture a beautiful moment forever on my camera as they run down the stairs on Christmas morn to see if their stockings have been stuffed with all of those junky things Mom usually says no to.

It’s true, I have struggled with lying to my kids about Santa, but what I have come to realize is when the time comes much sooner then I want it to I will simply explain to my two beautiful girls, Santa is part of the spirit of the season.  The fun, mysterious, giggling, magical part.  I am thankful for the Big Man and the special moments he has helped me create.  So for now, I’m milking him for all he is worth.

Thanks Santa.

 

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    • Comments

    1. Awww, I miss those days. My baby will be 20 two days after Xmas. He believes in Apple. LOLOLOL

      I’m here getting caught up on my blog reading, finally. Happy holidays!!!!

    6. Amen. I’m in the same boat…truthful by nature and have always struggled with the ruse of Santa. But seriously…what alternative is there? Set them straight at age two in the name of honesty? Nope. Ho, ho, ho, indeed.

    9. I love Santa. He keeps my two (wild) nephews in line all year long. My SIL in law keeps an elf statue out all year long and moves it around the house- she tells them that’s how Santa spies on their family. Devious? I don’t care, it works….

    11. I’m totally with you on this one! Check this out if you think your younger one might still “buy” it: http://portablenorthpole.tv/

      You should’ve seen the wonder and awe on J’s and Z’s faces when they saw and heard Santa talking to them specifically, addressing them by name and knowing what they did and also seeing their own pages on Santa’s big book! 🙂

    13. You are so not alone! I have teenagers and a 7-year old. The teens know the truth but it’s not acknowledged. They know to keep their mouths shut and not spoil the magic. 🙂

    14. I would love to go back to the days when my son believed. It was so much fun to watch his excitement. I can still recall him running to his room at the age of three the night before Christmas morning yelling, “I have to go to bed. Santa is coming!” Just a “stump” of a child!

      Milk it for all it’s worth. It will be over before you know it. They grow-up way too fast.

      I will say, however, he still gets excited. Woke us up last year at 4:00 am. 🙂