Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy

This post is specifically about Santa Claus, though I thought I should mention the other two, as they are in the same camp.  Although I must say that The Tooth Fairy is shockingly forgetful, and dare I say, incompetent . . .  Anyway, I was thinking today about the beginning of our homeschooling journey, now nearly 18 years ago, when we found ourselves in the midst of the Christian homeschooling movement.  There is a very long list of reasons as to why we never really "fit in" back then.  And while that list still exists, the difference is that we don't try to fit in any longer . . .

We'd been homeschooling (unschooling by this time, but shhhh . . .) for a little over a year when Christmas rolled around.  And more importantly, we had always perpetuated the myth of that Jolly Old Elf (Santa) in our home (heinous, I know).  It had never occurred to me that any of my kids' sweet new friends would tell them that, brace yourself, SANTA CLAUS IS NOT REAL.  We had hopped in our van after a homeschooling craft day at a friend's home, and my children dropped the bomb on me.  "So and so said that SANTA CLAUS IS NOT REAL!" 

Oh!  The shock.  The horror.  How was I to affect damage control?!?  At that moment, I had to tell my children the COLD, HARD TRUTH  . . .  "Those kids don't believe and so Santa will NOT be coming to their house on Christmas eve!  How sad for them . . ."  There.  Done.  And, of course, by the time Easter rolled around the following year, I was prepared.  "Those kids don't believe, so The Easter Bunny will NOT be hopping on over to their homes on Easter!  How sad for them . . ."

From that time on, as my children grew and dropped off the "believer" list, I made sure to remind them of how magical it was to believe in Santa, The Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy (fraud), and that they should never burst the bubble of their younger siblings or any other child.  Sadly, all of my children are in the non-believing camp now  . . .  : (    I reminded my two youngest just the other day to remember the magic and to not spoil it for other kiddos . . .  : )