I watched the touching Spanish IKEA commercial that went viral about kids writing two letters – one to Santa, and one to their parents. It turns out the kids asked Santa for lots of toys, but their wishes from their parents were very different. They wanted more time with them, they wanted to be listened to.
I asked my son what he would ask me and Dad for that wasn’t a material thing. He didn’t take long to answer: “I want to know the truth about the Tooth Fairy and leprechauns and all that stuff.”
Not the response I was expecting, but I shouldn’t have been surprised giving his growing skepticism. A lot of my friends with kids this age are struggling with how to approach this. (You can read my previous post about this.)
We settled in for a talk. I told him flat out: the Tooth Fairy is not real. And leprechauns, I don’t know. I’ve never seen one. (These leprechaun traps kids make today weren’t a thing when I was growing up. I had never even heard of them until H wanted to make one a couple years ago.)
“So….Easter Bunny?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to reply, with a sigh, but before I could answer, he blurted out, “Do I REALLY want to hear this?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
“Well, I don’t want to know about Santa!” he said, quite emphatically.
So we left it at the leprechauns. And I decided it was time for another Package from Santa. I ordered the package (this is a pretty cool thing if you’ve never done it (www.packagefromsanta.com), this time editing the letter to reflect his questions. It arrived last night. He squealed when he tore open shiny envelope from the North Pole (Whew! Another year on the Nice List!) and sat down to read the personalized letter.
“I know you’re almost 9 now and you’ve been hearing from other kids that there is no Santa Claus and trying to decide for yourself what you believe. Your parents and I have been thinking a lot about what to tell you,” Santa wrote.
“You said you wanted the truth, so here it is: the magic of Santa is real.” (More squealing.)
“But you’re such a smart boy and ask so many questions that you have figured out a few of my secrets. You’re right, it is hard for me and the reindeer to fly all the way around the globe in one night…and your parents sometimes help me make sure your presents get delivered.”
It went on to congratulate him for this good works and successes during the year and to wish him a happy birthday, which falls on the day after Christmas.
He beamed. He jumped up and down. He was thrilled. He was relieved.
He was not completely fooled.
“So exactly how does Santa get the presents to you guys?” he asked.
To tell or not to tell? He wants the truth. He wants to believe.
So I told him what I believe to be true: It’s all part of the magic of Christmas.
I hope that gets me on the Nice List.
kheadlines 
This is the sweetest thing I have read today. We didn’t grow up with santa or the tooth fairy or easter bunny-we got to see all that in movies. But it was always so great to see the belief the kids in the movies had and I often wished I could have that. Santa never made it to my home,but if I ever have a kid, Santa will be making loads of visits. Beautiful!
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Aww, this is so sweet. I was told that Santa didn’t exist ever since I was young.
Asian parents can be so tough. Haha
They told me my tooth was going to rot under my pillow.
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Ouch! 🙂
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Thank you for reading! A lot of parents have told me they use the, “if you don’t believe you don’t receive” line to much success!
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Great post. I remember these same kinds of questions with P. I think there was a lot of disbelief she was hearing at school. It’s funny, we also focused on believing in the magic. And to this day we still talk about believing in the magic. You are definitely on the NICE list!
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Thanks. It’s weird how much we agonize over it when we know one day everyone know the truth. Something about believing….
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It’s hard to convince kids about Santa these days. My son googled for the truth when he was six years old!
Hi! Stopping by from Mom Bloggers Club. Great blog!
Have a nice day!
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Google is a deal breaker for sure! Ha. Thanks for reading.
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you know… At our house, we started out with Santa Claus. Really we tried. But then the oldest got old enough. We just couldn’t get into the whole shopping mall Santa thing.. None of us could. We liked looking at it and all. But truthfully, they have known all along that there is no Santa. It hasn’t harmed them at all, in the long run. Sure, now the youngest 2 decided they did want to believe in Santa, and their oldest sister got them into that Elf on a shelf thing. We know about Santa, we enjoy the magic of Christmas and Santa Stories. But we know that Jesus is really why we celebrate. And that is what is important to me.
Blessings, And Merry Christmas!
Vicki
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I know in the long run it doesn’t harm them, but it’s hard for me to let go as they grow up. Thanks for reading.
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This is a great post! It is fun to have all the bunnies, fairies, and Santa to come visit. (not sure about the leprechauns either), while the kids are little. But the questions do start. I just told mine that as long as they believe in Santa, then he’d come, but if they didn’t any more, then he wouldn’t. haha they believed for years! 😉
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