I write this while feeling just about every emotion that a momma can feel. I can promise that I did not make the trip home thinking, "my kids are going to ask me tough questions tonight, yeah!!!!" In order to keep this post from being as long as it could be, I'll save you the history of "Santa" in our home, except this. . . we never "taught" Santa. C discovered him along the way and P I guess always believed because C did. We never discouraged it, but we didn't encourage it either. A child's imagination is the most amazing gift, and C's imagination has always been such a brilliant light to watch.
That said, without prompting and with no warning, he asked, "Mommy, is Santa real?" I was so shocked and scared and clueless that I simply said, "let me finish dinner and we'll talk about it". I needed time to think it through (and call Daddy because he was at work and I needed help!!!).
So, here's the short version of how it went. . . .
During dinner, I asked, "what made you ask that question?" He said, "well, some of my friends say he is fake and some say he's real."
Me: "What do you believe?"
C: "I believe he is real."
Me: "Why do believe that?"
C: (with so much profound wisdom in his voice) "Well, who else would bring us presents in the middle of the night?". . . . . Ya'll - how do you argue with that?!?!?!? HA!
I don't really recall how it went from there, but the conversation kinda dwindled and we went on with discussing carrots and why or why not one should eat them. . . you know - those really important things in life.
After dinner, we sat down to really talk. I asked him if he wanted to know what I believed or if he just wanted to drop it. He said he wanted to know what I believed. This was a very hard thing for me. For some of you, you may think, "well, it's easy, just tell the truth", but I suspect that you are either A) better than me or B) not yet a parent. Either way, I betray him in some way. I either tell him the truth and he is somehow disheartened or I lie to him - only for him to later find out that I lied - why would I lie?!?!?!?
So - I told Him what I believed. I almost cried because the look on his face was as if he'd lost a friend, but then he said something along the lines of "so is that why Santa brings us toys". . . so then I was confused and I just stopped talking. I said, "you know you can ask me anything, right?!?!?". Ya'll - I had no idea what this would cause.
Here is a list of questions that we went through:
"Why do we get gifts?" - this question was my favorite for the evening. I explained to both of them (again) that Jesus was the greatest gift of all. C reminded me that he asked Jesus into his heart while at church about two years ago and P said she never had. I asked if she wanted to and she said "yes". So - we prayed together. I can tell you that this was a moment I will never forget. That sweet baby was so sincere and I fought tears and had to catch my breath throughout the prayer.
This was followed by many more questions (warning - this is hilarious - at least to me):
"Why does it snow on Christmas?"
"Why does Daisy not have a jacket?"
"Why do we have stockings?" (followed immediately by, "oh, I know - so Santa can leave candy" - again. . . I was confused. But explained that we hang them because they are pretty and they are just another way for mommy & daddy to bless them with fun things.)
Then he said. . . "I wanna talk about sports!". . . . "Why do they call 'hockey' that?" (there were no words, ya'll, ha!)
Back to Christmas. . .
"Why do toys cost money" (at this point, we had a lengthy Economics lesson)
"ooooohhh. . . I gotta good question. . . . . why does Willy Wonka make chocolate?" (Okay - this is when he was again saddened by the fact that someone was just made up. But then he didn't care because "wouldn't it be cool if it were real and I won the golden ticket?!?!?!?)
"Why do dogs chase squirrels?" (I think at this point he was just enjoying the conversation)
"Why at night do we have a moon and a sun during the days?" (FINALLY - a question that didn't make me stutter or cause me to have to figure out how to explain to a 7-year-old!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!)
"How do elves make toys?" (at this point, we learned about factories and people who make toys to sell to stores, etc. - I was beginning to feel like the grim reaper of imagination, but I survived and so did he.)
In the end, I think he's still content believing that Santa is this really cool dude, but knows that daddy & mommy are (as he put it) "Santa" and "daddy's elf". :)
So. . .how was YOUR evening!??!?! :)
Merry CHRISTMAS! :)
Laura
I really loved reading this post. As a mom i can share in your range of emotions. I love the varied range of questions. Lol!
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