Dec 24 2008
Merry Christmas! or did I say that already?
I’ve told so many people Merry Christmas and I truly hope you do have a good day. Even if you don’t celebrate the Christian Christmas you have the time together with friends and family and maybe even the impossible to be believed Santa Claus.
I didn’t grow up with Santa Claus. I was told there was no such thing. I was told exactly who gave me gifts and I was expected to write a note or say thank you the next time we met. Did I lack anything? I did not.
Our children grew up believing in Santa at the request of their father. He thought it had been a fun time in his life and wanted them to enjoy it as well. I put him in charge of the Santa legend. I told him I didn’t know the right lies to tell.
Still, it often fell to me to tell the lie. You see, that’s how I thought of it. I wasn’t keeping up the legend, I was lying to my kids. Me, the mother who tried to tell the children the truth in all things.
Q: What’s the matter with this bird Mommy?
A: It’s dead. Let’s wrap it in a piece of comics and give it a burial.
And we did just that, complete with digging a grave and putting flowers on it. When something was dead, my kids knew what to do - bury it. It wasn’t a cold thing. It was done with kindness and respect.
When it came to Christmas I often found myself answering the questions. When Santa acted inappropriately, I also handled that. One child has a birthday on Dec. 21. When she happily told Santa that not only was it going to be Christmas, but also her birthday, he made a date to buy her lunch at McDonald’s. This was a real thing, complete with Mommy being invited.
I debated about this for so long. Soon it was her birthday and also her date with Santa. On her plate that morning was a note from Santa (written by me). It said something like “Dear Cindy. I’m sorry I can’t be with you on your birthday. Rudolph has come down with a stomach ache and I have to take care of him. Use these coupons to go to lunch with your family.”
I had called him earlier and canceled the lunch.
Whew! But in getting out of Santa taking us to lunch I had told a whopper. She showed that note all over school. I was also saddled with taking the family out to McDonald’s for lunch. Fortunately it wasn’t an expensive place and she liked it, but money was tight and this hadn’t been planned for.
So, now she’s grown. I think her boys believe in Santa Claus. She loved the legend and everything connected with it. I shouldn’t feel guilty, but I do.
Marilynne 
