I Believe in Santa Claus

I was in the fifth grade when I learned the truth about Santa. Well, I thought it was the truth. I remember my mother had to sit me down and tell me because I was getting too old to believe in Santa Claus and I was a super believer if you will. You see, when I was very young, probably about three or four my dad went out on our deck on Christmas Eve and stomped around with jingle bells. My older sisters were in on it and woke me up so I could hear Santa’s sleigh on our roof. You might think this would make me angry or resentful as an adult, but it’s one of my most cherished memories of my young childhood. I will admit, though, that when my mom sat me down for that talk some of the magic of Christmas was gone for me. For what I thought was forever. I had a younger sister who still believed for a few years; and nephews and a niece so it was always a joy to see the wonderment in their eyes on Christmas morning. Still, in every Santa movie I found myself wishing that the big reveal moments (You know the kind. When the reindeer fly, and everyone sees that Santa is real.) would happen in real life. It wasn’t until I reached adulthood and saw something someone had posted about how to gently break the news to your kids that I realized. I was wrong. We are all wrong. Santa does exist.

You see, there’s a deeper more meaningful kind of magic than flying reindeer and magic elves. It’s the kind of magic that while young children may be and should be exposed to, they may not fully understand. Through all his iterations and different names, Santa is a figure who brings gifts. Primarily to children. Now, a lot of parents, my own included would sometimes use this as a form of bribery. Santa only brings gifts to “nice” children. I’m not making any judgements. Sometimes kids just refuse to listen to their parents and who wants to get coal in their stocking instead of a toy. But here’s my problem with that. Is there really such a thing as a “bad” child? Especially a child young enough to still write to Santa. And what about the child whose parents cannot afford to buy them that dream toy they asked Santa for? Or the impossible to find toy? Growing up, I asked for not super expensive toys, but I know my parents scrimped and saved just to make my Christmas dreams come true every year. In fact, there was a year that I asked for a specific baby doll that my parents of course could not find. I wound up getting a different doll with a handwritten note from Santa that said this doll needed a special home. It’s one of the few childhood toys that survived my childhood, but I digress.

That deeper magic I was talking about is simple and it’s the basis for real life Santa. It is generosity. Giving of ourselves and helping others in any way we can is where the real Santa lives. This is not something that we should do just around the Christian Holiday of Christmas, but it is the time of year that we are more aware of it. In a way, this ties back into the actual meaning of that Holiday because in Christian tradition it is at Christmas time that the birth of Christ is celebrated as God’s gift to humanity. I’m not saying all of this to push a certain religious perspective. What I am trying to say is that the spirit of generosity is a gift to all of humanity to share with each other. Regardless of religion, culture, race, gender, sexuality. And there is real life magic in that. So maybe this year if you’ve never done it before talk to a lonely neighbor. Donate to a toy or food or clothing drive. Give of yourself at a soup kitchen. Be the Santa Claus who gives a child the chance to believe in magic. Be the Santa Claus who gives a parent the chance to see joy and wonderment in their child’s eyes when they thought they couldn’t afford a present. Be the Santa Claus who helps provide a warm blanket or a hot meal to someone in need. Living with generosity in your day-to-day life, you just might be surprised how real magic really is.