Giving New Meaning to Parenting

One of my favorite movies and books to read, coming up at the end of the month is the Polar Express.  Last year, Jack Jack latched onto the power of the film and may have worn out our DVR watching this movie almost every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This year, there is a copy of his own coming our way via Amazon.com and I can’t wait for this new tradition to continue.  The Mr. loves all the Christmas movies.  And in the next month and a half, you can expect to find him gathering up the kids for whatever Christmas movie is on that night.  He loves the classics: Its a Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Carol.  But, we also spent more than a few nights laughing at Will Ferrell as Elf.

One thing that all of these movies have in common is the idea in a belief that there is something special about the Christmas season, something that is beyond our selves.  And indeed, there is something special, each and every year that we spend time as a family dusting off our old traditions and creating new ones together.

One tradition that we have protected is the belief in Santa.  Violet, at 14, has long since figured out who Santa is.  But, she has been wonderful at playing along and keeping the magic alive for her younger brothers.  Last year, we knew that Dash was on the verge of that knowledge that sooner or later comes.  And we didn’t want to lie to him, but we wanted him to figure it it on his own.  He asked a lot of questions, one of my favorite being “Mom, I looked at the North Pole on Google Earth, and it is just water.  How can Santa live there?”  And my stock answer the whole Christmas season was “Well, what do you think?”

I could tell that he wanted to keep believing, because he created elaborate stories in order for the tale to fit his emerging reality.  But, just last week, on the cusp his 10th Christmas season, he was overheard telling his friend that Santa was really his parents.  Luckily the friend was at the same level of knowledge as Dash and there was no harm done.  But, I did have a talk with Dash to make sure that he understood that whether he believed or not, he needed to let others believe as long as they wanted to.  The funny thing was, although he admitted what he did believe to his friend, he would not tell me that he did not believe in Santa.  I have a suspicion that he is afraid that if it tells us that he does not believe, that there will be no Christmas presents for him under the tree.

But, whether he believes in Santa, or not, there is so much more to the season that begins with a Turkey Day feast and ends with New Years college bowl games.  Even as an adult, there is a magic in the air when I turn on the Christmas music that I have heard since I was small and the smell of pine needles fills the air in our house.  I still have one child that believes in Santa, but I have three that still believe in the magic of the season.  And I hope that we continue to make memories and magic together.

by In The Fast Lane

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