I have always been thankful that my
kids have never been terribly greedy when it comes to making their Christmas
Wish Lists. The internet has been filled with pictures of letters to Santa
Claus with nothing but children asking for more, more and more. Maybe those
parents laugh and think, "Oh, how cute that little Billy wants the entire
Toys 'R' Us catalog. I didn't know he even liked Barbies." But if those
were my kids, I would be shaking my head in shame.
This last year has been a little harder
than most. I had to quit my job because of my health problems, we had to pay our insurance out of pocket
for six months, and now are playing catch up with our credit cards. So
Christmas is going to be lean. And we are honest with the kids about it. We
feel that's the only way to be.
As for Santa Claus... Our kids are 12, 10
and 8. Though he has never asked, I'm pretty sure that my oldest, my son, no
longer believes in Santa. He said something to me one time about not believing
and I told him that Santa would be real so long as he believed. My daughters
are constantly trying to get us to admit that my husband and I are really the
ones that put all the gifts out on Christmas Eve. Their biggest
"clue" is the difference between our Santa and and their cousin's
Santa. Their cousin's Santa apparently has time to visit throughout the month
of December, putting little goodies in her stocking and filling it up
throughout the month. Our Santa does it all in one fell swoop. How can that be
possible? I just ask them, "Do you want presents from Santa?" They
say yes. "Then shut up and believe in him."
So the Santa Claus gifts will still be
here. And they will, understandably, be better than the clothes that mommy and
daddy will buying them. He just needs to remember to do a better job of hiding
the empty candy bags. He also opens the packages in the house before setting
everything up just right. The Tooth Fairy has also been known to forget to pick
up teeth for sometimes three days at a stretch. She was very busy. She also
accidentally left them in my dresser. Not to mention the mess the Easter Bunny
leaves behind. He also forgets to throw his trash away where the kids can't
find it every once in a while. Ugh! Those guys! I'm trying to keep the magic
alive here just a little longer!
It seems that no matter how much, or how
little, we manage to get them for Christmas, as long as the big guy shows up
they seem to be happy. After all, the real reason for the season rests inside
us all. Tiny Tim said it best in my favorite tale of all time, Charles
Dickens' A Christmas Carol; "God bless us, every
one."
