We read Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus together recently, in the wake of last week’s Santa-slaying. If you haven’t read it, you should It’s five minutes of your life well-spent.
It’s been a hard season, this year. There have been a lot of “wait a minute! I remember…” moments, always followed by the realization of some lie we told.
The worst for me, though, was today. We passed the Meet Santa booth at Downtown Disney, and for the first time ever, he didn’t ask if he could go visit the big guy. There was this sense of vacancy, and in that moment, I looked over at the man playing Santa and felt sad for him. I wondered if he had done this job for many years, and looked forward to seeing some of the kids return, only to watch them walk by and avoid eye contact.
Nevertheless, Santa would be glad to know that we’ve had lots of conversations about him in our house recently. We have talked about how we celebrate Santa’s caring and generosity by giving children what they want for Christmas, and doing it in a way that leaves them feeling beholden to no one. How he teaches us what the spirit of Christmas is really about.
At ten years old, William already thinks about things like cost and affordability. He doesn’t ask for, say, a PlayStation3 because he knows that even if we could find one, we really couldn’t afford it.
But he knows he can ask Santa for anything. No wish is too big or too small.
We’ve been fortunate in that William is very down to earth in his requests. They are always frivolous, but also always reasonable. And he’s come to count on Santa, even for the hard to find items – which has meant some early mornings at Toys ‘R Us for me.
We’ve also talked about how the real Christmas magic comes later, when you get to be Santa. If you think coming out to find a bike next to the tree on Christmas morning is exciting, wait until you get to be the one to put the bike there and watch what happens.
Finally, we’ve talked about how Santa’s likeness has been abused used in advertising so much, that the fat man in the red suit has come to symbolize the materialist focus that dominates Christmas in America. But we can’t allow that unfortunate, unavoidable side-effect of gift-giving to dilute the message: Christmas is a time of love and generosity. It’s not about religion, despite its roots in the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ. It’s about humanity.
And Santa, it turns out, is quite real. I never really thought about it this way before, but it’s true.
Santa is in the love that makes me want to sit in the parking lot and wait for the mall to open. Santa is what keeps me up until 2:00am on the 24th, putting a bike together. Santa makes me eat the cookies (it’s true!) and drink the milk, to keep the magic going. All of those feelings, all of that love, is real. Therefore, Santa is undeniably real.
Yes, Virginia – and yes, William – there is a Santa Claus!
