Some might say I'm too old to still believe in Santa but I do. My schoolmates, friends, and even my parents have tried to convince me that Santa is in fact just a fictional character but me and Santa have built up a very strong relationship over the years. Let's recap:
At about the age when kids at school start telling you that Santa is indeed not real and they try to ruin Christmas for everyone else, I had an experience that will make Santa live on forever. I was somewhere between 8 and 10 years old and I decided I wanted to draw a picture of a dress I wanted for Christmas. I think I made a few pictures before I decided it was perfect and I asked my mom to take me to the mall so I could deliver the picture and my request for my beautiful blue dress. (I knew the Santa's at the mall weren't the real deal but I figured Santa paid attention to what you told them, so I had to give it a shot).
Well, Christmas day came and as we entered our living room I saw my dress hanging on the wall next to the Christmas tree. Only, it wasn't just my dress ... there pinned to my dress was the picture I'd drawn for Santa and taken to the mall. I knew then and there that no matter what anyone else told me, Santa was real. There's never been any doubt in my mind since that day.
Some other Santa favorites include the tradition of Santa leaving one present on the end of our bed so that when we woke up during the night we could just feel the end of our bed and if no present was there then we'd know Santa had not yet come. I would wake up continuously throughout the night and check for the extra special present and finally I when I woke up and found the present at the end of my bed I would know Santa had remembered us. This present was the the only present we were allowed to open before our parents gave the go ahead to enter into the tree room and marvel at our other wrapped gifts. A very good distraction by Santa Claus if I do say so myself.
Also, each Christmas eve we would all (my sisters and myself) sit around and write Santa a letter thanking him for the gifts of the year before, let him know some of the things we'd like to find under our Christmas tree and we'd tell him about some of things we'd done to prove ourselves as "good" little girls and then we'd stick them in our stocking. On Christmas Day I valued the letter that Santa wrote back. I think I still have several of his letters in boxes around our apartment. They were a gift in and of themselves.
And finally, the last Santa event that has made me believe in Santa is when we'd leave him cookies and milk on Christmas eve. We always thought that it wasn't fair if Santa was getting all the treats so we'd leave out carrots for each and every reindeer. Santa would eat most of his cookies and drink his milk and he'd always tell us in his letters how grateful his reindeer were for our carroty treats. (It never occurred to me that anyone other than Santa would even think about touching these prized treats).
Thanks to all these things I will always look forward to Santa's visit on Christmas Eve. (Even if I am the one acting on his behalf).
2 comments:
I feel the same way! You've got some awesome traditions! It's so much fun to be able to do all of the Christmas stuff myself, but it also makes me realize how much WORK my mom put into it!
Merry Christmas to you and Ben from our whole family!
Brooke these are some really great ideas- I think I need to write them down and use some of them as my kids get older! I especially like the idea of having one to open that Santa puts by your bed, although that probably would have scared me a little when I was a kid b/c I was already a little scared that Santa was breaking into my house.
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