Dispelling the Myth

When does Santa die?

Published on December 12, 2004 By iamheather In Misc

Call me crazy, but I am ignorant on all things Santa.

As I have mentioned in past blogs, Christmas and other such mainstream holidays were nonexistent in my childhood. In my adult married life, Zombie has helped me adapt to traditional celebrations through thoughtful reasoning. We enjoy Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and even Halloween. The process has been slow and at times painful (Halloween occurred at our house for the first time this year...still a little uncomfortable...but costumes and candy nonetheless).

The Santa Claus hurdle is one I have yet to conquer. I know all the excuses; "It's just a game," "the story is harmless." I am not convinced yet. So, all things relating to the jolly fat man in the red suit remain the exclusive domain of my husband. He is our resident expert. I refer all inquiries by our children regarding St. Nick to Zombie.

Recently, my children have been mulling over more metaphysical questions about the benevolent North Pole resident. Will Santa ever die? If not, why did he grow old? How come we cannot call Santa on the phone, but you can? If we have a fire in the fireplace, will Santa get burned? With a challenging eye, I smugly turn to Zombie. He always raises my challenge with some brilliant off the cuff answer. He is quick like that.

And so, now I face my own questions. Ones that jar me awake from my dreams of Sugar Plum Fairies and Rat Kings.

At what point did you learn the myth of Santa? Were you devastated? Did you think your parents liars? Did you feel betrayed? Who revealed the truth? Do you wish you had never been fooled?

My fellow JUs, I seek your wisdom.

Comments (Page 2)

scatter629

on Dec 13, 2004

I still remember the magic it gave when I was five - waking up and going straight to my assigned Christmas stocking to see what I got. I don't ever remember thinking how "bad" my parents were for lying about Santa and just took to the brotherly chore of being "Santa' to my own younger cousins and sisters when the time was ripe for me. There was this one time I even had to work out a story to my 5 -yr old daughter who got severly sick just before Christmas. The story called"Santa and the Blood" (I can't recall in detail how I worked that one out), but it sort of explained what was happening with her - how she caught the infection and how with Santa's help (sshhh....and antibiotics), her blood could get cleansed. Well, anyways, she felt much better with the story. To this day, I still don't know if she believed the story, or if she was just so amused to see her Daddy able to dish out such crap.

iamheather

on Dec 13, 2004

Dr. Guy

A friend of mine liked to dress up as santa and pay a visit to his 2 children. When they were about 12 and 13, I told him they knew it was really him, but he kept insisting that they did not! Well, his son confided in him that year that they had known for a few years it was really 'dad'. That crushed him!

Yikes, sounds like I should be more concerned about my husband's disappointment.

BlueDev

didn't say anything to my mom for a while, but when I did, she was the devastated one.

Yep, it is official. I need to worry about Zombie.

scatter

I don't ever remember thinking how "bad" my parents were for lying about Santa

Good to know!

The story called"Santa and the Blood" (I can't recall in detail how I worked that one out), but it sort of explained what was happening with her - how she caught the infection and how with Santa's help (sshhh....and antibiotics), her blood could get cleansed. Well, anyways, she felt much better with the story. To this day, I still don't know if she believed the story, or if she was just so amused to see her Daddy able to dish out such crap.

I loved this story. It reminded me so much of stories my husband tells to our children. I am always "amushed to see their Daddy able to dish out such crap," but they always buy into it and love it.

These ancedotes have been awesome! I love hearing about everyone's experiences and memories. I guess I am living vicariously as I have no such memories. Thank you.

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