Santa

Once again, the holidays are upon us. Mary still believes in Santa. The Elf on the Shelf came out and sits on the shelf, and reports to Santa every night to let him know Mary has been a good girl. Mary knows he reports to Santa because when she wakes up, he is on a different shelf. Last night she asked me if Santa was real. I asked her if Santa didn't bring the presents, who did? she said, "you do". I gave her the same talk I gave all my kids, all about the magic of waking up and seeing all the gifts, no matter where they came from, Jesus' birthday, etc.. I really don't think she gave it a second thought, because she then proceeded to give the elf a note to take to Santa.

I don't know why, but this makes me sad. I think it makes me sad that I really don't know if, or when she will fully comprehend the whole Santa thing. It just doesn't seem right to continue making her believe, when clearly she has heard something that made her question whether he is real. I'm afraid trying to explain it to her will be confusing and possibly make her sad. There is a big part of me that wants her to always believe, not only to hold onto her innocence, but it helps to hold it over head as well! I won't even mention the fact that remembering to move the elf every night makes me crazy. I don't know how many times in the past I woke in the middle of the night to move him. Thank you Hallmark for coming up with the Elf on the Shelf!

I have never actually said the words to my other children, "no santa isn't real". As I said, I told them to remember the magic of it all, and to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Like everything else with Mary, I guess I will do the same and just ride it out and wait for it all to resolve itself. After all, it always does.