Am I a Grinch?

Dear Reader,

I have a deep, dark secret to share, something that may shock you . . .

I have taught my children not to believe in Santa Claus.

Despite the fact that Santa was a huge part of my own childhood Christmas, from the time that they were old enough to talk, I have told my children that there is no Santa.  This is quite a change for me.  I used to put out cookies for Santa; I always remembered carrots for his reindeer.  I put my stocking on the biggest piece of furniture I could find and waited restlessly for my parents to stop talking so that Santa would come.  Finally, the house would be quiet and I would creep upstairs to nirvana.  One year the Rubik’s cube I had so earnestly coveted was permanently maladjusted before 6 a.m.


My belief in Santa was both strong and long lasting.  Of course, I understood all about department store Santas being people like my uncle, but I believed in the real Santa because my parents encouraged me to, the people at Church talked about him, and  the radio announcer said that the satellite had spotted him.  I was in third grade when a fourth grader, Jennifer S., told me confidently that Santa did not exist.  I shook my head in angry disbelief.  Jennifer S. was foolish and didn’t have enough faith.

I went home and asked my Dad about it and he gently explained Yes, Virginia style, that Santa does exist in the kind hearts and giving impulses of good people everywhere.  I waited for him to include the part about how Santa also actually visits our house every Christmas, but he left that part out.  He included a lot of “What do you think?”‘s in answer to my questions.  You might suspect, given the way I’ve raised my children, that I left that discussion bitter.  On the contrary, I was pleased;  I had crossed a certain threshold–I was now part of the group that had the adults in it, the people who knew the truth about Santa Claus.

Part 2: The Truth About Santa Claus

Part 3: Where Santa Theory and Practice Collide

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December 16, 2008 | Filed Under Parenting 

Comments

3 Responses to “Am I a Grinch?”

  1. Julie P on December 16th, 2008 5:25 pm

    i’m interested in reading part 2! The Santa issue was one that we gave lots of thought to in Jacob’s infancy. Encourage it? Ignore it? Be honest from the beginning? It’s a hard one.

  2. The Truth about Santa Claus : Chocolate & Garlic on December 19th, 2008 10:31 am

    [...] Search « Am I a Grinch? [...]

  3. Where Santa Theory and Practice Collide : Chocolate & Garlic on December 31st, 2008 7:19 pm

    [...] Part 1: Am I A Grinch? [...]

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