We have left the Santa era.
The baby of our family asked me THE question the other day.
“Hey, Mom, is Santa real?” And I told him the truth.
Now before you come for me, hear me out. You, too, will have to answer this question. Even if you teach them the real meaning of Christmas (my husband and I are both pastors) and even if you really don’t want to, how you handle this is key.
I will preface by saying that our family does not do Santa big at our house. We don’t talk about Santa at all, but he has learned about the jolly red elf at school and reading books and on television.
He has asked it before and I always answered, “What do YOU think?”
So when the question came, I responded with the same question as before.
This time my little E, said, “It is impossible, Mom.”
He went on to explain that you cannot visit every single kid in one night, even with the times in different countries, and deliver them presents. I knew the gig was up and that the little piece of childhood was gone.
He went on to share with me how he has been putting the pieces together and he wanted to know if everyone else knew but him.
I never thought that I would have such a mature conversation with my little 1st grader.
He handled it with maturity and now he has a responsibility. The responsibility to answer the same way I did, “What do YOU think?”
Christmas is around the corner, and so many kiddos will ask these same questions. I don’t know how your family will handle this; some people believe in Santa and make him part of their Christmas experience and tradition and do Santa, and some don’t.
Regardless of how you handle it, you need to handle it. I shared with my little guy that many people still believe and that we will let them choose for themselves when they don’t believe anymore.
