Is believing in Santa really so bad?

Essay: Christmas is Almost Here

It’s hard to believe that tonight is Christmas Eve already, but it is ... I got a phone call yesterday from one of my little grandsons and I‘d like to share it with you. He told me he was excited and he asked me what I thought Santa Claus was doing right then. I asked him what he thought ...

Without hesitation, he said Santa was prob’ly practicing his HO-HO-HO’s while he’s polishing his sleigh and taking care of the reindeer. Rudolph was getting ready to lead all the others and his nose is already shining. He told me the elves are prob’ly busy packing the toys into Santa’s huge red bag. Then my grandson told me if the elves wake up at the same time the sun does in the morning, it will still take them most of the day to get everything loaded up in the sleigh.

He said the elves are prob’ly running around cleaning up the workshop because pretty soon, they have to start making next year’s toys. Then he told me some of them are prob’ly even looking at some late wish lists from kids all over the place, and deciding if they should tell Santa if the kids were naughty, but maybe they won‘t ‘cause tattling isn‘t nice.

He said Mrs. Claus has prob’ly been cooking all month. It just wouldn’t be good to have a skinny Santa, just in case someone peeks when he comes down the chimney. She was baking lots of stuff for Santa’s trip and even sticking in some carrots for the reindeer in case they got hungry. And everybody knows Santa gets cookies and milk from kids at the houses where he goes, too, so that will keep him fat.

Then he went on to say, he guessed about the very last thing Mrs. Claus will still have to do is make sure Santa’s red suit is clean and his boots all shined up. Santa would have to go to bed early ‘cause everyone has a busy night Christmas Eve ...

I asked him then if he could remember why we gave and got presents at Christmas. He said, “Sure, Grammy. It’s ‘cause God let His little boy, Jesus, be born to the world. We can’t give Him birthday presents ‘cause now He lives up in heaven with God again, so they invented Santa Clause to give Jesus’ presents to kids. Then, I don’t know when, but then Santa Clause became real.”

“How do you know Santa Clause is real?” I asked him.

“Grammy, if he wasn’t real, how come we can write letters to him? How come we can sit on his lap and talk to him? It’s just something kids know. Then we go to church and thank God for giving us Jesus and for giving us His presents.”

Then my daughter called him to the dinner table and we shared “I love you’s” and said goodbye.

I let my thoughts drift for a few minutes … the rest of us have been busy decorating, entertaining, shopping and fighting the traffic, and then wrapping the fruits of our labor. As warm and fuzzy as it is, I can’t help but get just a little bit melancholy every Christmas right about now. It will all be over in just a short while, about as long as it takes all the little ones to unwrap what it took us weeks to buy.

In looking at Christmas through a child‘s eyes, I realized that it isn’t really all that bad, having a Santa Clause, is it? It’s pretend, yes, but as long as they understand the true reasons behind Christmas, then the belief in Santa is harmless and it brings such joy to children.

Pretending is such a huge part of childhood. It’s practice for growing up and it’s over before you know it, like a flash of light. I remember pretending as a child, and most especially at Christmas. My siblings and I were all taught why there was Christmas. We all believed in Santa and I only have wonderful memories of those times.

I remember we always had the most fun with presents that sparked our creativity and imaginations. The huge box that a present came in could so easily become a castle or, maybe even a pirate ship. Smaller boxes were taped together here and there, forming all sorts of ‘necessary’ additions to our cardboard wonders.

As I sat here this morning wrapping a handmade doll cradle for my granddaughter, I thought about what my grandson had told me.  It really was true .  The cradle is a birthday gift I so wish I could have given to Baby Jesus ...

Oh gee. Wait a second. Look at this ... I just finished the roll of wrapping paper and this long empty tube would make a superfantabulistic telephone! Wanna play?