SPOILER ALERT: This post is not really intended for little ones, if you are reading this with them looking over your shoulder, you may want to come back to it when they are tucked away in bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads 🙂
Do your kids believe in Santa? My kids have always believed in Santa Claus. I have never told them otherwise. The HH’s family did the same thing. In fact one year they all grumbled that they did not believe in Santa and there were no presents under the tree that Christmas morning.
Instead The HH’s mom hid them all in the bathroom shower until later in the day when the kids finally said they believed. 🙂
Goofy yes, but maybe sometimes it’s the parents who want to keep the illusion of Old St. Nick alive. Maybe it’s the hope that they will remain innocent forever, or that they will always carry the belief of possibilities with them in life, who knows exactly?
It kind of makes you wonder where the whole Santa thing started, though, doesn’t it? I remember reading several years ago {so, take the information with a grain of salt} that the picture of Santa, jolly and round, was started by Coca Cola in 1931. They ran an ad that featured Santa as a rosy cheeked elf. The image stuck, for us Americans anyway. I guess it really should come as no big surprise that Santa, as we know him, was born out of an advertisement.
BUT, that Santa is just an image–a place holder for an idea. Where did the IDEA of Santa bringing toys to little girls and boys come from? Turns out, it kind of depends on who you ask. Some people believe the idea originated from St. Nicholas, who spent his life giving to the poor.
As Christianity swept over Europe {and notably Germany} there is folklore that the idea of St. Nicholas was combined with the Pagan god, Odin, who was associated with a winter event that led a “Wild Hunt” across the skies. As the tradition spread across Europe, it altered slightly with each country. Sometime in the 1820’s the idea of Santa, the North Pole and the reindeer began to surface.
Whatever the origins, what are your family traditions on Santa Claus? Does he bring gifts Christmas Day or Christmas Eve? Do your kids still BELIEVE?
~Mavis
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