- “You DO believe in Santa, don’t you?”
- “Uhhh, yeah.” – says the 9 year old, with a quick glance to the adult in the room – me.
This is the interaction between my 11 year old, T ,and his friend down the street. T proceeds to explain that he received a dog a few years ago from Santa. (The world’s worst dog ever, by the way. But that is another story.) His mom (me) did not want him to have one and there is no way…NO WAY…she would have allowed it. Santa MUST have brought him his beloved pet.
He is eleven…and he wholeheartedly believes in the old man in the red suit. No, he doesn’t trust the mall Santas. They lost power over him some years ago. But he does believe he can ask Santa for the most expensive item on his list, and he will deliver. My husband and I are starting to get concerned…I mean he is in middle school for Pete’s sake…
Well meaning friends, with their heads tilted in kindness, and a slightly higher pitched voice, will say to us “maybe he really doesn’t believe and is just making you think he does.” It is as if they are telling us something we have neglected to think about..not wanting to let us down, or break our heart…….
No…he believes…wholeheartedly….REALLY…
Last year T came home and said, “Some kids at school are saying that Santa isn’t real.” Thinking it was time to have the big discussion, I responded, “Oh yeah? What did you think about that?” T, very matter of factly said, “I told them, there is NO WAY my mom would get up in the middle of the night to shop. Santa is real!”
- Well he’s right about the getting up in the middle of the night thing…once I’m in bed, I’m in…unless someone is vomiting or the house is on fire. I refuse to get up for any other reason. Have a bad dream? I’ll squish over so you can crawl in too..We will chat about it in the morning….
Trust me, we are not in a rush to lose the magic of Christmas in our house. He is our last believer and while we held tight for a while, we wonder if we are doing him any favors by allowing it to continue. Will he still believe in Santa when he goes into high school ?? oyyy -veeyyy!
Yet the other part of us knows the reality of what it means when he does stop believing. Christmas eve and morning will change forever. The wind will be out of his sails. The excitement gone….
So, from now until Christmas morning , my husband and I will move like spies hiding the secrets of the universe. It is in fact, the only secret we allow in our home… and we eagerly participate in it. We will talk in whispers behind closed doors, sneaking around, hiding gifts in undisclosed locations, and going to extremes to keep the innocence alive one more year.
I’ll let you know if he still believes next year….
Chats A Lot 
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