I’ve been mulling this over since reading this at Mrs. Flinger’s place. Of course, it’s also the season when these things get considered, right?
Anyway, the question is: When did your child question Santa?
I remember when we were kids and Christmas morning would come around… it was huge. Bigger than big. We would go to bed (eventually) on Christmas Eve, and whatya know, the next morning there were tons of new toys under the tree! My brother and I shared a bedroom, and we would wake up just before the ass-crack of dawn, and sit and whisper excitedly about what may be out under the tree. We might even sneak a peek or two. When my parents finally woke up, dad would take his time setting up the lights for the movie camera, mom would get in a safe spot to avoid getting trampled, and all of us kids would get at the end of the hallway and wait for the “1, 2, 3 – GO!” signal, at which point we would sprint to the living room and tear open anything that we found. So exciting.
Of course, later, when we learned all about Santa, this didn’t really change. We were just as excited, I think, maybe moreso, because by then we had moved onto bigger toys. Okay, eventually we didn’t sprint anymore, but we still had to wait on mom and dad to get ready.
So, back to the question at hand. My oldest turns eleven tomorrow (gack! TOMORROW?) and he has surely figured it out, but plays along. He even sat in Santa’s lap at our office party the other day for a picture (a bit reluctantly, but he did it). He keeps dropping sly comments like “I’ve seen this wrapping paper before,” or “that would never fit down a chimney” or “Hey, there’s a price tag on this, I didn’t know Santa shopped at Target!”
My eight year old has surely been TOLD by my eldest the truth about Santa (TTAS), but is so gung-ho about all things Christmas that he still holds to the old beliefs, I think. He wanted to put up Christmas decorations the day after Halloween, and is the driving force behind many things Christmas. He makes his lists, he wonders about what Santa might be able to do (“If I ask for a million dollars, Santa might give it to me.”)
Then there’s my little girl. She believes, she watches TV shows like Rudolph and Frosty with wide-eyed love of the big red guy, but there’s a problem. She is scared to death of Santa in person. Trauma. You’d think at her age (she turns six next summer) she’d at least tolerate the guy, but no, wants nothing to do with him. In pictures, on TV, in song – fine. But don’t let the bastard near me. It wouldn’t matter that we could say that’s just one of Santa’s helpers, someone in a red suit with a toy beard, she wants nothing to do with him.
So, I’m not sure if I answered the question, but I’m outta time for now…
