The Santa talk

Yeah, we had this conversation before Christmas, but I just didn't get it written up for posting until now!

I've mentioned to Sayer before that all the holiday Santas we might see at stores or malls aren't really Santa - they're regular people trying to help Santa. Okay, that went well.

We didn't actually see any Santa's this year, but we were at a mall to get our family pics taken just before Thanksgiving. While we were there we saw the area they were creating for Santa to see kids and hear their wishes and get pics taken. I reminded Sayer that real people help Santa ... and added that Santa himself isn't really a 'person' but really more of a 'spirit.' He's the spirit of giving. Sayer asked if I meant like a ghost :) Halloween isn't that far behind us, and over that holiday we'd had conversations about ghosts and spirits and how we have a spirit in us that continues to live after our bodies die ... maybe some become ghosts, maybe some become guardian angels to watch over loved ones, maybe some just hang out, and maybe some move on to another place or another life and are reborn. But that was the Halloween convo. She remembered enough of it, though, to ask if Santa was a ghost, and later tried explaining our discussion to Mark calling Santa the 'ghost of giving.' :)

A few days later I was able to revisit the subject of who or what Santa is. I explained that because he's a spirit of giving, he actually doesn't have to live in a house anywhere, let alone in the North Pole. Instead, he lives inside everyone's heart, where he tries all year to remind us to be nice to each other and give what we can to those who have needs ... but that most people couldn't hear him during the year but made a special effort to listen around Christmas. And *then* I told her that since Santa/the spirit of giving lived *in us,* when we listened to him and gave someone something, whether it was a smile or a gift or some money or whatever they needed, we got to BE Santa.

We talked about this a bit in relation to her choosing tags off of an angel tree, and her getting to BE Santa for the girl she picked. She was jazzed about the idea :) She wants to be Santa more often, and not just over the holidays. :) That is one of the reasons that we decided to start giving her an allowance - so she could have spending money for herself, savings, and money to use to give gifts to family, friends, and strangers who she felt moved to give to. She decided that she wanted to help put the presents under the tree and in the stockings, so she could help be Santa for our Solstice celebration (because we do our gift exchange then to save 12/25 to be just spent as her birthday).

I did go on to explain to her that the idea of Santa not being a real person, but a spirit that lives inside us, can be a hard thing for lots of children to understand. So some parents don't explain it, and allow their children to believe that Santa is a real, magical man, who lives in the North Pole and who has flying reindeer and elves and delivers presents on Christmas. That story is easier for kids to understand, and it's a fun story. So I said that if she talked about Santa to any children - especially younger children - she should not try to correct that belief or tell them that Santa isn't really 'real.' Because he is, he's just not what they think.

Duncan was privy to all these discussions, but at the end of it all he was still talking about Santa living in the North Pole. So I guess I'll get to have these conversations again next year and the year after that and the year after that until he gets it, too :)

Anyway. I'm thoroughly pleased with the ease with which she accepted everything. And not just accepted, but *understood!* Santa is the spirit of giving and he lives inside us all and when we listen to his promptings to help others out and give them something to brighten their lives, we BECOME him. :) At least, that's what he is to me! :)