My first grandchild, age 6, started Kindergarten this fall. Recently she asked her mother, "Does Santa really make sense?" Her younger brother, age 4 1/2, is very adamant that, yes indeed, there is a Santa Claus.
Did someone spoil the magic for you or was there a time when you started believing?
I was probably nine . . . already well into knowing how the Santa thing worked. After church one Sunday, I invited my friend to come with me and my family to one of their social club gatherings letting her know that Santa would be coming.
At the conclusion of a program, Old Saint Nick did indeed make his appearance and started handing out presents to the children in attendance . . . calling them out by name. Oh, no! Santa didn't know Debbie would be there because I had just invited her an hour earlier. I was so nervous anticipating how sad she would be in not getting a gift. The minutes became intense, and then . . . he called out her name and handed her a gift. What! Relief spread through me. How did he know? Could he be real after all?
It was years before I realized how tight parents are with Santa on these occasions and came to my own conclusions of that visit. Perhaps they took a gift they already had at home or my personal favorite surmise is her father who was the manager of a Woolworth store just went down, opened it up, and picked something out. I think I will call my mother and find out the rest of the story . . .
The answer to Virginia's question was written by the editor of the New York's Sun. After all, her father assured her, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so."
Did someone spoil the magic for you or was there a time when you started believing?
I was probably nine . . . already well into knowing how the Santa thing worked. After church one Sunday, I invited my friend to come with me and my family to one of their social club gatherings letting her know that Santa would be coming.
At the conclusion of a program, Old Saint Nick did indeed make his appearance and started handing out presents to the children in attendance . . . calling them out by name. Oh, no! Santa didn't know Debbie would be there because I had just invited her an hour earlier. I was so nervous anticipating how sad she would be in not getting a gift. The minutes became intense, and then . . . he called out her name and handed her a gift. What! Relief spread through me. How did he know? Could he be real after all?
It was years before I realized how tight parents are with Santa on these occasions and came to my own conclusions of that visit. Perhaps they took a gift they already had at home or my personal favorite surmise is her father who was the manager of a Woolworth store just went down, opened it up, and picked something out. I think I will call my mother and find out the rest of the story . . .
The answer to Virginia's question was written by the editor of the New York's Sun. After all, her father assured her, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so."
1 comment:
I just always believed, but knew better. Does that make sense? I don't want to burst anyone's impression of me, but there was a time or two I actually opened my presents before Christmas, wrapped them back up and put them back under the tree. It was pretty heartbreaking when our daughter found out. Her cousin, who is 4 years older than her, told her there was no Santa Claus. When she asked me, I gave her the standard answer, "As long as you believe there will always be a Santa Claus." Then she asked about the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy and - then said, "Is there really a Jesus?" Of course, by then we were both crying. Today, at 26 years old, she still believes in Santa and gets up Christmas morning to see what he left.
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