This was in our morning newspaper and it took me aback because when our children were little we said that there was a big television at the North Pole and Santa Claus could tune into any house in the world to see if the children were being good or not.
Only recently have I realized that was probably a terrible thing to tell them! Luckily, they're all grown up and fairly well adjusted! :-)
I had to chuckle at a conversation our daughter-in-law had with the five year old twins a few days ago. Lucy asked how Santa can see all the way from the North Pole to Minnesota. Her mommy was trying to come up with an explanation when little Harry piped up that Santa has "special goggles"!
I honestly don't remember how my parents handled it but I'm certain that I didn't even ask. The television bit wouldn't have worked, anyway. We didn't have a television in our home until I was a teenager.
What did your parents tell you about Santa Claus? How did you explain Santa to your own children?
Oh, Cheryl, I've missed your delightful posts! I think it's taking Santa to get me back into a routine. Hey, we didn't have TV either, nor radio that amounted to more than static. I just knew that Santa came, and if I were good, he'd leave me A toy (operative article, 'A') - and I was very happy with Santa.
ReplyDeleteI don't remeber what my parents said about Santa. I doubt I asked too many questions. Just took it on faith probably.
ReplyDeleteMy son never took to santa. I blame the santa in the Home Depot. His suit was mismatched and a bit dirty. And he comes up to my kid and says ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas. Great. Thanks for freaking out my two year old. Not to mention freaking me out. Sigh.
The only thing that tops that is they had some sort of promotion with spider man at Smith's in Reno. I think this might have been when he was two, too. Spider man has always creeped my son out. So when the well meaning human in the suit came up to him and said give me five, my son dashed for the parking lot. Fortunately, I knew that would happen so I grabbed him before he ran into traffic. Sigh.
I know what you mean, Kitty...we got a single toy, too, although we also got a new Christmas outfit (handmade by my mother) and sometimes a new pair of shoes. We were thrilled to pieces.
ReplyDeleteVicky, it is amazing to me that more kids aren't freaked out by the dozens of Santas out there. On the other hand, they are growing up with all this commercialization of all holidays so they probably space a lot of it off. By the way, your new photo experiments are very cool!
I don't know that my parents gave any real specifics, but with my kids, I told them I didn't know a lot of those answers, so I just left it to their imaginations to think about how he did things.
ReplyDeleteHeck, we live so close to the North Pole, I never gave it a thought! Santa probably just used binoculars:)
ReplyDeletelol...I can't remember back that far asking about Santa.
ReplyDeleteYou're a smart lady, blueviolet!
ReplyDeleteBinoculars!!! Bag Lady, you are so funny!
I know, Ramona...I don't remember even questioning Santa's existence.
I never really heard about Santa Claus as a child so I never believed in him. When I was six years old, my dad made a little table and chairs, doll crib and cradle and cupboard for Christmas. When we came home from the Christmas Eve program at church, it was all sitting around the Christmas tree. My parents said Santa brought it. I didn't believe it--maybe that's why I never believed in angels either.
ReplyDeleteMs Sparrow, that's such an amazing story! Whatever happened to the little table & chairs, etc? Do you still have them?
ReplyDeleteSadly, the only piece that survived is the doll crib, the rest was stolen from our storage.
ReplyDeleteYears after that Christmas, my dad told us that was soon after we moved back from California where he worked at Lockheed during WWII. He got a job working for a contractor but there was no money for Christmas presents. He brought home scraps of wood from work and built all the furniture in the basement. After we had all gotten in the car to go to church for the Christmas Eve program, he said he forgot something and ran back in the house while we waited in the car. He brought all the pieces up and arranged them around the tree in the living room. I still remember the thrill of that Christmas. I didn't believe that Santa Claus
brought all those things--but then, who needed Santa Claus?