A Charlie Brown Christmas

 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."