Just a few more days and Christmas will be here. Like everyone else, I've been busy shopping, wrapping and baking, and then there's always so much last minute stuff to do -- for instance, I'm still shopping for Robert. He's pretty tight-lipped this year when I ask him for ideas. He says all he wants for Christmas is me -- and while that's lovely and very romantic, I still want to find the perfect gift for him.
I'm thinking about a phone call I received from one of my grandsons, who was six at the time. He happily told me how excited he was about Christmas and then he asked me what I thought Santa Claus was doing right now. In the spirit of the season, I turned his question around and asked him what HE thought Santa might be doing right now ...
Without any hesitation at all, he answered, "That's easy, Gram! Santa is prob’ly practicing his HO-HO-HO’s while he’s polishing his sleigh and taking care of the reindeer. I think Rudolph is getting ready to lead all the others and his nose is already shiny and red. The elves are prob’ly busy packing the toys into Santa’s big red bag." Then he told me, "Ya know, Grammy, even if the elves wake up at the same time the sun does in the morning, it will still take them the whole week to get all the toys loaded in the sleigh!"
He continued, "The elves are prob’ly running around cleaning up the workshop because pretty soon, they have to start making toys for NEXT Christmas! Some of them are prob’ly even reading late wish lists from kids all over the place, and deciding if they should tattle and tell Santa which kids were naughty -- but maybe they won‘t ‘cause tattling isn‘t nice."
I had to laugh when he said, "Mrs. Claus has prob’ly been cooking all week. It just wouldn’t be good to have a bony Santa. You know, just in case someone peeks when he comes down the chimney. She's baking lots of stuff for Santa’s trip, and even putting some carrots in a baggy for the reindeer in case they get hungry on the way. And everybody KNOWS Santa gets cookies and milk from kids at the houses where he goes, too, so that will keep him fat."
He then told me that the very last thing Mrs. Claus will still have to do is make sure Santa’s red suit is clean and his boots all shined up. Then on the last night before Christmas Eve, Santa will go to bed early ‘cause everyone has a busy night Christmas Eve.
I asked him then if he could remember why we gave and got presents at Christmas. He said, “Sure, Grammy. It’s ‘cause God let His little boy, Jesus, be born on Christmas. See, we can’t give Him birthday presents ‘cause now He lives up in heaven with God again, so they invented Santa Claus to give Jesus’ presents to all of the kids. Then ... I don’t know when, but then Santa Claus became real.”
“How do you know Santa Claus is real?” I asked him.
“Grammy, if he wasn’t real, how come we can write letters to him? How come we can sit on his lap and talk to him? It’s just something kids know. Then we go to church and thank God for giving us Jesus and for giving us His presents.”
Then my daughter called him to the dinner table, so we shared “I love you’s” and said "goodbye".
After I hung up the phone, I smiled … I really needed that. I'd been so busy with everything that I had lost sight of the important things. As warm and fuzzy as it all can be, I had always gotten a little melancholy at Christmas. After the enormous build up, it was always over so quickly, about as long as it took the little ones to unwrap what it took us weeks to buy and wrap.
When I look at Christmas through a child‘s eyes, I remember the awe, the wonder and the ... magic. And it isn’t really all that bad, believing in Santa Claus. It’s pretend, yes, but pretending is such a huge part of childhood. It’s practice for growing up and, like Christmas, childhood is also over before you know it. But as long as our children understand the true reason behind Christmas, the belief in Santa is harmless -- and it brings such joy to children.
He continued, "The elves are prob’ly running around cleaning up the workshop because pretty soon, they have to start making toys for NEXT Christmas! Some of them are prob’ly even reading late wish lists from kids all over the place, and deciding if they should tattle and tell Santa which kids were naughty -- but maybe they won‘t ‘cause tattling isn‘t nice."
I had to laugh when he said, "Mrs. Claus has prob’ly been cooking all week. It just wouldn’t be good to have a bony Santa. You know, just in case someone peeks when he comes down the chimney. She's baking lots of stuff for Santa’s trip, and even putting some carrots in a baggy for the reindeer in case they get hungry on the way. And everybody KNOWS Santa gets cookies and milk from kids at the houses where he goes, too, so that will keep him fat."
He then told me that the very last thing Mrs. Claus will still have to do is make sure Santa’s red suit is clean and his boots all shined up. Then on the last night before Christmas Eve, Santa will go to bed early ‘cause everyone has a busy night Christmas Eve.
I asked him then if he could remember why we gave and got presents at Christmas. He said, “Sure, Grammy. It’s ‘cause God let His little boy, Jesus, be born on Christmas. See, we can’t give Him birthday presents ‘cause now He lives up in heaven with God again, so they invented Santa Claus to give Jesus’ presents to all of the kids. Then ... I don’t know when, but then Santa Claus became real.”
“How do you know Santa Claus is real?” I asked him.
“Grammy, if he wasn’t real, how come we can write letters to him? How come we can sit on his lap and talk to him? It’s just something kids know. Then we go to church and thank God for giving us Jesus and for giving us His presents.”
Then my daughter called him to the dinner table, so we shared “I love you’s” and said "goodbye".
After I hung up the phone, I smiled … I really needed that. I'd been so busy with everything that I had lost sight of the important things. As warm and fuzzy as it all can be, I had always gotten a little melancholy at Christmas. After the enormous build up, it was always over so quickly, about as long as it took the little ones to unwrap what it took us weeks to buy and wrap.
When I look at Christmas through a child‘s eyes, I remember the awe, the wonder and the ... magic. And it isn’t really all that bad, believing in Santa Claus. It’s pretend, yes, but pretending is such a huge part of childhood. It’s practice for growing up and, like Christmas, childhood is also over before you know it. But as long as our children understand the true reason behind Christmas, the belief in Santa is harmless -- and it brings such joy to children.
As I sit here this morning wrapping another gift, I can't help thinking about what my grandson told me. It really is true. This present really is a birthday gift -- I so wish I could have given it to the Baby Jesus ...
As for Santa Claus ... I still believe. Maybe I'll even let him decide what to bring Robert for Christmas ...
As for Santa Claus ... I still believe. Maybe I'll even let him decide what to bring Robert for Christmas ...
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