Monday, September 23, 2013

Rest in Peace, Santa

"Mommy, one time I was at Miss Monica's house, and I saw a toy that we got from the Easter Bunny, and I asked her about it, and Miss Monica said, 'That's because your mom and I went shopping together.'  Is the Easter Bunny real?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Hesitantly, Mary Grace said, "Yes."

"No, honey, the Easter Bunny is a story parents make up to make Easter magical for their children."

"Oh."  (pause)  "What about Santa?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Claire?"

"Yes."

"(deep breath)  No, guys, Santa's not real.  The spirit of Santa is real, and there's a little bit inside everyone who believes in that spirit, but there's no jolly man who comes down the chimney and leaves gifts for children.  That was me and your dad because we're Santa's helpers.  And again, parents lie to their kids about these things to help make their childhoods more magical."

"So Santa was never real?"

"No, there was a real man named St. Nicholas who lived a long time ago, and that's who Santa is based on."

"Woah, so you bought our American Girl dolls?" Mary Grace asked.

"Yep."

"You have a hundred dollars???" Claire said.

"Not anymore," I replied.  "So now that you know the truth, you have two jobs.  First, you can't spoil it for other kids who still believe.  Second, you have to help Daddy and I make Christmas magical for kids who still believe, like Jack, and everyone else.  Maybe when we go shopping this year you can buy Jack's gift from Santa.  Would you like that?"

"YEAH!"

"Mommy," Mary Grace said after a moment, "is anyone else a made up story?"

"Like who?"

"The Tooth Fairy, is she real?"

"Nope."

"OH MY GOSH!" she yelled, falling back against the couch.

I knew this day would come...  (Here's the post from 1000 years ago saying we weren't going to do Santa, and here's the follow up from when everyone flipped their lids.  Santa even got passive aggressive and threatened to bring drum sets and tubas to the girls if we didn't see the error of our ways!  LOL)

I feel a little sad that they're old enough to know, and I feel like a part of childhood is over for them forever, but I also feel kind of relieved.  I think I handled it pretty well.  They didn't cry.  Well, I take that back, Claire cried during the conversation but that was because Jack poked her in the eye.  I think they'll be ok.

3 comments:

Rob Monroe said...

If you have netflix there is a Saint Nicholas Veggie Tales that tells his story in a fun way.

We have avoided the Santa thing (telling her about the real one) but everyone else pushes it around us - family and friends - but we still work to tone it down at home.

Knowing your girls (through facebook and your blog) I am sure that they will help you with Jack.

Denna said...

I think you kids believed in Santa till you were out of high school! You were afraid if you let on that you knew, that you'd not get as many presents!!! haha! It IS a sad moment though, losing that innocence and wonder about Christmas is just a little heartbreaking. Christmas will never be the same for them. They'll have fun finding something for Jack though. That was a great idea!

Unknown said...

That is such a cute story :)
I don't even remember when my kids found out. I think they pretended for a few years come to think of it.