The holidays are indeed a magical season for children.
From the colored lights outlining the shapes of homes along the car ride home to the annual tradition of decorating the tree, their eyes are wide with wonder as they watch the activities going on around them. They don't miss a thing and when talk turns to that great bearded man bearing gifts, Santa Claus, you know you have their undivided attention.
My memories of Santa at an early age were very real. I am certain I heard his reindeer land one year on the slate roof of our old brick farmhouse. I know I heard the jingle of sleighbells out the car window one night as we drove home from my grandparents' home in Fort Wayne. I'm just sure he ate the cookies we left him and I believe he read my letters. I believed and later as I grew older and began to question things, my mother cautioned me against losing that belief -- even as an adult. She said there would be no more gifts if I didn't believe in Santa. In a figurative way, that was right. If we lose the belief in the things Santa Claus represents, we lose a little of the magic that is Christmas. The lights are a tad less twinkling, the excitement turns more to anxiety.
Unfortunately, so often this time of year I hear adults, even in the vicinity of children, talking about Santa in ways that cause them to question his reality. With so much unpleasantness in the world, I guess I just see no reason why we shouldn't continue to protect their belief in Santa just a few years longer. We all know that soon enough the stories will be told on the playground or they'll discover the truth on their own at some point.
In a restaurant two years ago in Warsaw, I thought my son might have stopped believing after the adults at a nearby table chattered non-stop through their lunch about how he wasn't real and when they stopped believing. My husband and I were so upset. Apparently, however, our conversation and engagement of his attention must have outweighed the talk at the nearby table. This year, the same thing nearly happened once again when my daughter and I were watching the Rachel Ray show. Her conversation turned to talk of losing her belief in Santa when I believe she caught herself and attempted a quick recovery, knowing that likely many young moms were at home watching her show with toddlers in tow. These are just a few of the near-misses.
As we move forward in this holiday season, I'd encourage you to evaluate your own belief in Santa. Not your belief in him as a living human being, but as a concept...as a real, live representation of all the things that are wonderful about the holidays. If you can, find a small way to pass along and preserve the mystique of Santa Claus in the lives of young children. Can we help them to believe there is true goodness in the world? That someone who doesn't know them could still love them? That truly impossible things are possible if we believe?
And, above all, watch what you say about the man in red...the little ones are listening.
Season's Greetings!
Jennifer Zartman Romano