I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. I sure am. First of all, it’s Christmas Day and we are wearing shorts. Snow looks pretty in pictures, and the kids lament the lack of sledding, but dang. Snow is cold.
Second, we’ve had our first Christmas sans Santa, and I’m so glad to be rid of that fat man. The following opinion offends a lot of people, but here it is anyway: I hate Santa Claus.
There. I said it.
I’ve never understood why parents are so protective of the Santa fantasy. You stay up half the night, wrapping and assembling and crafting a Santa scene. You do all the work, and he gets all the credit.
Santa also encourages the idea that a child can have whatever he wants, if he is on the “good list.” Nevermind the cost, child. Santa’s little elves will construct it for free in their little workshop. Also, nevermind the “made in China” label.
So, I broke it to the younger son sooner than necessary. Some folks were disappointed, but lemme be honest. The fact that I maintained the pretense for seven years is just short of a miracle. I found myself apologizing for spoiling the fun too early, but being told the truth isn’t what upsets my younger son.
“That’s okay Mommy,” he says. “But I don’t get why everyone lies to their kids about Santa. That violates the Ten Commandments.”
What do you say to this logic? Feel free to berate my lack of Christmas cheer in the comments. Don’t even get me started on the newest deception crowding the Facebook feed, however: Elf on the Shelf. Seems like maybe he’s just Big Brother’s easy-going little brother.
School is going well, and we’ve found a church to attend. Who knows what is in store for all of us in the next few years, but nevermind. At least it’s bound to be interesting.
We’ve had family visiting all week. Tomorrow we travel to visit more family. Just having some time off is reason to celebrate. Yeah, the fiscal cliff, sequestration and all that still looms ahead. Beyond personal preparation, there’s nothing much to be done, really. Our fellow citizens want to play chicken with the Gods of the Copybook Headings, and in the short term we can’t stop them.
Here’s this year’s tree, looking suspiciously like last year’s tree:
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year to you all. Hold on to your butts, because 2013 is sure to be a bumpy ride . . .
Tagged: Christmas, Santa Claus
We never did Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny in our family, because I never saw any reason to teach my kids to believe in anything that I don’t believe in myself. (I confess to having no idea why ANY parents would want to teach their kids to believe in things the parents themselves don’t believe in.) Oddly enough, my children always enjoyed Christmas every bit as much as their peers who believed in Santa Claus.
Ha! I never liked Santa either! Never taught my kids to believe in him or anything. :)
God bless you Lin and I hope that your New Year is filled with blessing. Perhaps Santa has a place for those who don’t believe. At the very least it encourages giving and that is a foot in the door for many of those who teach of the giving and sacrifice of His Son!
Bah humbug!
Have a great Christmas, Lin!
I’m very jealous, Lin, especially of this sentence:
“Our fellow citizens want to play chicken with the Gods of the Copybook Headings, and in the short term we can’t stop them.”
Very well done, have a great new year!!
Aw, thanks Mr. Nebraska. You have a blessedNew Years as well!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Lin
Hope you had a Merry and blessed Christmas. Wishing you a Happy New Year.
Shorts and no snow,…..no Santa,…..you should be embarrassed. :)
Sounds like you raised some intelligent children, well done.
Critical thinking is what is lacking in so much of today’s society.
2013 is indeed going to be a bumpy ride, whether Obama is impeached or not.
Good Luck for the coming New Year Linda.
May God Bless.
Happy New Year Linda to you and Yours.
Happy new Year back atcha! Hope you are doing well.
Merry belated Christmas and happy New Year! My brother-in-law is maintaining the Santa fantasy for his 13 year-old son and 11-year old daughter. I think his children are humoring him.
We all did Christmas traditions for the New Year in the USSR, and i knew that there was no Santa (and that Lenin’s real last name was Ulyanov) in kindergarten. My parents shrugged off the Lenin thing when I told them – -they pretty much made it clear that they are not going to discuss that individual with me, but they tried to convince me that it wasn’t them who was giving me the present. There was typically just one present.
A belated merry christmas and happy new year!
Okay, I’m a sap. I still love the “idea” of Santa Claus. My son figured it out at around age 8. Yes, it makes Christmas a bit simpler now that Santa is a myth. (Dad insisted that Santa wrapped his gifts when he was a child–he didn’t for me–so that meant also purchasing separate wrapping paper just for Santa presents) But I still miss that childhood “magic” of Santa–laying out the cookies, hanging the stocking. I have no problem either way–tell your kids that Santa is a myth or play along–I don’t think there’s a hard & fast rule that makes you a good or bad parent.
One of my favorite writings is the newspaper column from the 1800′s, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” I think the reason I like the “idea” of Santa is that I do believe there is “magic’ all around us. Miracles, serendipity, coincidences, surpirses–aren’t they all magic in a sense? And too many people have become so jaded and so busy that they don’t appreciate the “magic” around them on a daily basis. Little children do, for a little while. The idea of Santa Claus lets all of us rekindle that appreciation for “magic”.
After reading this missive (sorry) you will not be surpirsed to learn that I have a small collection of Santas and a large collection of nutcrackers that go on display each Christmas. (And I like to imagine those nutcrackers come to life and dance!)
In a nutshell (or nutcracker–he,he) I still believe in Santa Claus.
Aw, thanks for the missive, Freedom! I’m with you on the idea that either approach is fine. And if you are a sap, I guess I’m a spoil sport. My soft spot is for the tree, which I STILL haven’t taken down. Guess I’ll have to tomorrow. Happy New Year!
Hope it is/was a Fraser Fir. ;)
Hope y’all had a Merry Christmas and have a happy and prosperous New Year.
Hate that I couldn’t meet up with y’all, although I did manage to meet up with “John Doe.”
On our way home, we did stop at Disney World…hap, hap, happy place my a$$. You pay 90 bucks to walk around for several hours and listen to your kids complain about the long lines and the ride they really wanted to ride is closed down, ect. Also, some of the rudest people I’ve ever seen are at Disney World. They are mostly foreigners…go figure, eh? (The staff is always polite, though.)
I should say that’s 90 bucks per person, including kids.
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