I have always loved Christmas. It is my favourite holiday! For the most part, Christmas just brings out the best in people! Unless of course you are out shopping the day before Christmas….then it can bring out the crazy in people! lol I have amazing memories of Christmas growing up as kid, it was always such a big deal for us!
Once I got a bit older – like 18ish, it just kind of became another holiday. You had to buy gifts for others, you got gifts, ate lots of food, and called it a day. I think at this point I started getting less ‘fun’ gifts, and more practical ones (house items etc) and it didn’t seem as exciting as it once had. I wasn’t a little kid anymore and I had lost the excitement.
The year I had my daughter it all changed again! Christmas was exciting again! Not necessarily for me, but because of my daughter! She was only 5 months old her first Christmas, so was more interested in eating the wrapping paper than the actual gifts themselves, but it still brought to me a new found joy for the holiday!
The next year is when the fun really began! She kind of knew who Santa was, and was excited Christmas morning to come and see what he had left her! It is her believing in Santa that brings me so much joy! I don’t remember how old I was when I knew the truth, but I remember how I felt. Hearing at school that he wasn’t real, that one man couldn’t do all that parents say he did. I remember questioning it. That year I swore I saw Rudolph flying (don’t laugh, I was a kid!) so he had to be real!! It was more than likely just a red light from a plane, but as a kid, it HAD to be Santa! The next year I knew the truth, and it wasn’t really the same after that.
Having my children believe now makes me so happy and excited! Writing letters to Santa, getting pictures taken with him, leaving milk and cookies out – it all adds to the feeling of Christmas! I love watching all the movies and shows on tv with my daughter, and decorating and baking. Seeing the sparkle in her eyes is what it is all about. My son is still a little young yet to grasp the whole Santa idea. But I am sure next year he will, and it will be a whole new experience again.
Part of me already fears for the day that they won’t believe, and it is just another holiday to them. But until that time, I am soaking in all the joyous feelings that seeing Christmas through a childs eyes can bring. It is truly magical, enough to almost make me believe in Santa again myself!
At what age did you or your children stop believing in Santa? What do you find changed when that happened? Did/does it take away some of the magic of Christmas for you?
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