Now, don't get me wrong - it was nothing racial but being greeted at a children's Christmas party by a brown and skinny Santa with a fake white beard made of strung up cotton wool instead of your regular picture-perfect Santa was a major bummer! One of the older kids at the party, a real meanie, squealed smugly, "It's Father A! Told ya, Santa IS NOT REAL!".
On the way home after the party, Mom explained the truth about Santa. Funnily, the revelation did not devastate me. Like the tooth fairy and Easter bunny, our culture and religion place very little emphasis on Santa. To us Christmas = Birth of Christ and Easter = Christ's Resurrection.
Frankly, I think Santa and the practice of gifting have taken away the true meaning of Christmas. I always remind my boys that Christmas is all about giving and not gifting when they don't get the gifts they request.
Frankly, I think Santa and the practice of gifting have taken away the true meaning of Christmas. I always remind my boys that Christmas is all about giving and not gifting when they don't get the gifts they request.
Interestingly, I asked my son, Rodney, how did he find out that Santa wasn't real. He answered that he never really gave it a thought and that he knew Santa wasn't real from the start! Anyway, he googled that when he was six!
Am I a bad mom?
When and how did you find out Santa isn't real?
This week's cookies
This week's cookies
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| Santa Cookies |
I think it is so cute your son googled Santa at such a young age too :) I remember my mom telling us that Santa wasn't real probably when I was about 8 or 9 years old, probably because my siblings were older and probably were aware of the fact already and it might have made it easier for them all not to try to keep it a secret from me. I did kind of suspect because I opened a closet and saw gifts that hadn't been wrapped and then saw those same gifts under the Christmas tree from Santa on Christmas morning.
ReplyDeleteWith our kids, we decided not to do the Santa thing. They knew from a young age that he didn't bring their toys at Christmas. We did tell them not to tell their friends, not sure if they ever did or not. We would get pictures taken every year with Santa but mainly because I liked that visual reminder of how much they had grown from year to year.
Yummy cookies :)
betty
I was suspicious when my friend found an Atari under her mom's bed! I was probably 11 or 12 when I went digging just days before Christmas and found all of my Santa gifts hidden way at the top of a closet! My Mom was SO upset and cried for days!!!! I guess she was sad that the Santa days were over.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, my girls (10 and 8) still believe...
none of my kids were ever devestated about Santa not being real either...until my youngest. He just found out this summer and he was so so so not happy with me. "You should have told me the truth," that's what he kept saying. and he cried. Oh my!!! I felt like a jerk to tell you the truth. Who knew????
ReplyDeleteThat's funny! Googling Santa....ahhhh technology! I didn't grow up believing in Santa either. I grew up in Lebanon and to us Christians, Christmas meant the birth of Christ like you mentioned. And everyone was in competition to build the best and biggest nativity scene! Plus we never saw your typical picture-perfect Santa like we get to see here in the malls. I wonder what my son will end up believing...He's only 2 now :) By the way, he loved your Santa cookies, I had to distract him so I can post a comment! :P
ReplyDeleteGreat post! My little is still too little to believe or not believe, but it was a fun read either way. :)
ReplyDeleteThose cookies are awesome! It's my daughter's first Christmas this year so she's just been totally bemused by everything so far! :) #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteI laughed at the part about your son googling santa, we live in a different age where our children don't fall for any stories and tales as we used to do, We as a family don't celebrate Christmas as it is not part of our beliefs, but it is always interesting for me to see how other families drive their traditions looking forward to reading more of your posts. visiting from
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add the #KCACOLS to my comment, but I saw your blog through that great linky , your post is the one above mine. Take care
ReplyDeleteThat's really strange for me to hear, your Son googled Santa. Of course, you can google anything these days! Not in my day, or yours I guess. Of course, Christmas is more about giving than receiving and hopefully we get plenty of joy in that and spending time with family and friends.
ReplyDeleteAmanda. #kcacols
Lovely post and those cookies are amazing! To be honest I actually don't really remember when I found out. But thinking about it I have this vague recollection of being told he died in a plane crash by my sister's cousins, but I have no idea how old I was. My girlies are still young and haven't learnt otherwise and I happy about that. As I want them to believe for as long as possible and have a magical childhood. Xx #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteHehe your Santa story really made me chuckle. Unfortunately I have no recollections of such a real-life Santa and I think I started to twig that Santa wasn't real when I saw so many bad 'fakes'! I do remember being a little confused by the whole thing to be honest and asking my parents why I need to thank them for my presents - I thought Santa got them for me? You're right - Santa does confuse the whole concept of giving at Christmas, but I did enjoy believing in him whilst it lasted! Thanks so much for linking up with #KCACOLS. Hope to see you again next Sunday x
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