Comments on: yes, Virginia

By: Sarcastica

Sarcastica — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:10:01 +0000

lol I am going to go all out each Christmas with Santa stuff for as long as Nolan will believe me!

*I think, anyway*

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:38:13 +0000

Yesterday I asked Isaac if anything unusual happened at school…I thought I’d get the usual blank stare and non-committal response but no. Isaac told us Santa come to his class. Josh and I both cringed a bit, peeked at each other and started our best attempt at cross-examining a five year old without seeming to do so. So Isaac, did you say anything? No, well yes…When Santa asked us blah! blah! blah! I said “I dont celebrate Christmas” to Santa. We’re pretty sure that’s as bad as it got but not certain. So then we give Isaac the speech about everyone being entitled to their own beliefs etc. and tell him his hanukkah happiness is in jeapardy if he ruins Christmas for anyone else, and yes, child or adult Isaac. Anyway, he then tells us he’s decided maybe he does believe? I know I cant wait until the New year and I’m not talking about Rosh Hashanah. Cindy

By: Bon

Bon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:39:59 +0000

Cindy,

laughing myself silly. Isaac & Oscar can out- “he’s not real” each other til the cows come home. sounds fun. at least then no other parents will be cutting their eyes at us. :)

we actually – randomly – did the Mall Santa thing tonight. took the kids shopping for presents while Dave went to the gym, and there was Santy! i think i called him Santa’s helper, but Oscar was quite taken with the sleigh, and i offered a picture. both he & Posey were shy, but O ended up chatting up the jolly old elf, who was sweet…and when he found out Oscar’s name he said, “ho ho ho, well, i bet a little boy like you goes to daycare! do you go to daycare at X daycare? well, i know a little girl named Paige who goes there!” Paige is a favourite friend of Oscar’s and he was quite dazzled by this display of omniscience from someone who wasn’t real. so maybe by the time Christmas comes, we may have a believer on our hands after all!

(Paige is, of course, the granddaughter of this particular Mall Santa, he whispered to me while O stared at him, rapt. and there aren’t many Oscars in town)

By: cindy

cindy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:57:50 +0000

Bon,

Glad to hear O is a non-believer. My ability to control Isaac (5) when he is out of earshot is seriously questionable. He is looking forward to Hanukkah and not AT ALL shy about telling people he does not celebrate Christmas or that he does not believe in Santa. We’re working on it. Angus, my 3 year old recently declared he wanted to go to the mall and take a picture with Santa. We were shocked he remembered we had seen Santa at the shopping mall last year and his older brother had taken a picture with Santa (despite his not-believing?). Angus remembers he was too scared to get on Santa’s knee and wants another crack at it. I’m a bit dubious about takinig the kids anywhere near him. Cheers. C

By: Kaspar

Kaspar — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:40:53 +0000

Ha. We’re just ramping up the Santa myth this year. We haven’t said much about him yet but it will be interesting to see how good we are at making it up. We tell Lachlan sort-of-lies all the time to soften the real world, but out-and-out fabrication is something else. Maybe it’s just weird because we’re not religious.

By: Shawna

Shawna — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:25:29 +0000

Thank you for this post. I think about this ALL the time. The great lie that is Santa Claus that we tell our children, along with the stories of the baby Jesus. It makes me cringe inside just a little to know that their hearts will be broken to realize that we’ve not been wholey truthful with them, even if we’ve been careful to never out right lie.
Thanks again.

By: Traci

Traci — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:03:46 +0000

Norah DID NOT believe in Santa when she was three. But now she does. Avidly. She said she believes in “everything good” like Jesus, Santa, The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. My mother is very proud but I am seen as the jack-fundy who didn’t keep her child’s theology straight. Oh well. I tried. : P

By: Jenn

Jenn — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:26:24 +0000

“i thought my mother believed. and i did not want to ruin that for her.”

The oldest, no doubt.

Santa is still real here, for one of us. I don’t want to know the day that he isn’t.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:09:34 +0000

When I was 6 years old and my little sister was 3 years old, I told her Santa didn’t exist. I still remember the look on her face. I still feel a bit guilty about it. She’s no worse for wear, though. As for my kids…this post has made me think about my almost 3 year old. We’ve not said much if anything about Santa. She’s at the age now, where she kind of gets that Christmas involves presents and decorations (we’re not religious, so that’s the extent of it). We’ve just not thought about going that extra step of involving Santa. I guess we should, as it’s fun to believe for a bit.

By: niobe

niobe — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:41:47 +0000

Probably because I spent much of my childhood in neighborhoods that had lots of non-Christians, I’ve never really understood the whole Santa thing.

For years, though (and I’m pretty sure I’ve already told you this story), Gray was the only Jewish child in his class and well-meaning adults would ask him what Santa was bringing him for Christmas. He’d always say “nothing!” and smile sweetly at the adult’s confusion. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I always secretly found this hilarious.