“There’s no way he’d fit down the chimney,” was my main thought when exposed to the concept of Santa Claus as a child. My parents didn’t really put a lot of energy into conning me into believing in Santa. There seemed to be a few too many holes in the lore for me and the holidays seemed easier if we weren’t trying to rationalize reindeer on the roof and that big fire burning in the fireplace.
I remember several occasions when my mother took me to a shopping plaza where Santa had a small outpost in the parking lot, similar to Fotomat. I don’t recall ever asking to see Santa or showing any desire to go to this odd little shack in the parking lot. The idea of sitting on a stranger’s lap and telling him what I wanted for Christmas seemed odd to me. To be honest, I still recall the anxiety of not really knowing what this ritual was all about. My mother said we were going and off we went.
Once your parents encourage you to leave cookies & milk out for Santa, they become complicit in the ruse when these treats are curiously missing the next morning. My parents never did that. We bonded over the mythology of these stories and traditions. As a family, we came up with our own traditions that I’ve passed down to my son.
I never went the Santa route with him. He knew all the stories and lore of Santa, but we never tried to bring any reality to it. These were just fun stories during the holidays.
Of course, I love that NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) still has a Santa Tracker every Christmas eve. This began with an advertisement in 1955 that listed a phone number for children to call Santa. The number was misprinted and connected kids to CONAD – the predecessor to NORAD. They played along and chatted with kids. It’s become a yearly tradition.
I’m sure there’s a part of me that didn’t want to relinquish credit for a great gift to a mystical jolly old guy who allegedly had his elves construct it in their North Pole workshop. Yeah, I see the selfishness in that, but the holidays are much more about connecting with family and spending time together. With the house decorated and carols playing throughout, Santa or no Santa, Christmas is best when we all come together.
Here’s hoping you and yours have a merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
By CapeCod.com staff
