Thursday, December 23, 2010

Tis the Season...

So far, it looks like Karter will be missing Christmas 2010 with the rest of the world, and I'm disappointed. But this gives me time to think about how I want to approach his experience with the biggest holiday of the year when 2011 rolls around. With Christmas vastly approaching, I've been thinking about what it will be like when my son's old enough to absorb concepts like the North Pole, reindeer, and 'ol St. Nick himself. See, I've always known there was no Santa; my parents never allowed us to believe in him. I don't know if it was their way to keep us focused on the "reason for the season" or what, but looking back I feel cheated. Much like the way I felt not being allowed to trick or treat, but I digress. Tony and I have discussed this and most likely we'll be telling our boy about the tubby guy who slides down the chimney once a year. It'll be fun to let him take pictures with Santa in the mall and to bake cookies for Santa to leave with his milk. I want to share this with Karter, perhaps to live vicariously through him? I don't know, but I this is something I want Jr. to have that I didn't. It will be fun and will give us another pastime to bond over. But the world is so cruel.



See, what I'm not looking forward to is explaining that there really isn't a Santa. No toy factory at the North Pole. No reindeer. No elves. How and when do you tell your child that? Maybe that's what my parents were doing: avoiding this difficult and inevitable task. Society doesn't make it easy to keep the secret. There are commercials with drunk Santas advertising the latest alcoholic beverage. Santa is black. Santa is white. He was on the side of the road earlier today luring passersby to get an advance on their tax refunds. I mean, he's everywhere. And if my child is going to be as smart as I know he will be, he'll eventually ask me how Santa can be more than one place at once and why he looks one way today and completely different in two weeks! What our dream home has everything but a fireplace and Karter puts 2 and 2 together?? I can't tell him Santa's going to just text me when he's outside with his sack! Parents, I ask you: how can you protect your children from this?! It just seems like so much pressure to continue to hold up this harmless fantasy with lies and deceit. Am I making this too serious? I'm sure it's me being extra again, lol.



I've heard horror stories about how people have come to know the truth. A lady at my job told me her mom was a drunk. Her mom went out the night before Christmas, got lit and returned home without putting the gifts under the tree. Like every other kid in the world, my co-worker wakes up ready to rip open all of her presents but nothing's there. She looks outside to find the other children riding their new bikes and such only wake her mom up and ask her what happen. Well, her mother had to admit she left the gifts at her sister's house and she got right up to retrieve them. Poor chile still didn't get it, until her sister finally told her there isn't a Santa. I heard an episode of Wendy Williams radio show where a mother couldn't bring herself to tell her daughter that Santa didn't exist. The girl was 12 years old, too old to believe I think...but she took it pretty hard. Can you imagine? SMH...I don't want to devastate my child. I'm sure as Tony reads this, he'll say something macho like, "this will build character". Whatever, lol. I think this is a genuine and legitimate concern to have. And I'm sure it's going to turn out OK. You know me, just have to get my random thoughts out...I suppose I'll worry about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy when it gets here.

This is Flyy Preggo, OUT!



1 comment:

  1. Idk how to appropriate this one but I can share with you how found out...plain common sense...It really hit me after my nieces were born...all this coming from a child who swears up and down that I saw Santa and his reindeer on my front lawn eating the carrots and cookies I left...I honestly believe that some kids eventually put 2and2 together and figure it out! Don't stress too much or Karter just mite come before Christmas! LOL!

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