Saturday, December 22, 2007

Father Christmas

What did you say to your kids when they were little, about Father
Christmas? Did you pretend he was real, and put out a glass of
sherry and a few mince pies for him on the kitchen table on Xmas
Eve ... and spin yarns about him and Rudolf working hard all
night delivering pressies worldwide? Or did you tell the kids as
we did, that it was all a fairy story, but nevertheless put
stockings full of little treats on their beds at midnight, etc..
.. keeping some of the magic alive that we experienced as kids.

When I was a kid, we used to get stocking treats such as a
clementine and a few sweets (Quality Street chocs usually ... the
ones in purple wrappers were my favourites), and a few balloons
for us to blow up.... sometimes a thin paper party hat also.

When you were a child, how old were you when you realised that
Father Christmas was just make-believe?

One of Mrs C's friends told her a true story about the outing
of Father Christmas in her family ... her grandson, Jamie, made a
solemn request to his parents one morning, a couple of weeks ago:

"Dad and Mum -- I want to talk to you right now in the
sitting room .... ... come and sit down!" Jamie is seven years
old, by the way.
"My friend Sam says Father Xmas is all made up ... is this true?
.... I want to know the truth!"

His dad didn't say anything, but his mum attempted to tell him
the truth in a roundabout way, so as not to hurt his feelings.
(It was his mum who was obsessional about keeping up the pretence
that Santa was real for the last 6-7 years).... "I'm sorry to say
this, Jamie, but Sam is right."
Whereupon Jamie burst into tears and sobbed for a few minutes.
Mum then asked Jamie if he wouldn't mind keeping quiet about
all this as regards his younger sister, Alice, so that she could
enjoy all the fun of believing Santa was real.

Jamie cheered up a little on hearing this, but then he said:
"And what about the tooth fairy?!"

4 Comments:

Blogger andrea said...

Lovely story. My younger son believed until he was probably 10 or 11 ~ a boy who loves his fantasy. Only this year (at 13) has he given up all pretense at having a relationship with his cuddly animals. I think he held onto his childhood that long as much for me as for himself. Now I don't have any more little children! :(

Have a wonderful Christmas.

3:52 am  
Blogger justin said...

Thanks, Andrea. I've still got my teddy bear which I've had since I was 5 ... it's looking a bit old now, but I'm still fond of it ... I'm a big kid really. We've got it out for our grandchildren to play with.
Yes, it's rather sad when the kids grow up, and more so when they leave home ... but great to see them again from time to time.

11:44 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With my boys we used to do the whole biscuit and milk thing, and carrots for the reindeers...and once they were asleep I'd half eat the biscuit and milk, and then leave a trail of crumbs to the window...and also make the carrots look nibbled on - and knock over the water bowl for the reindeer...then sprinkle fairy dust around the room.

It was great fun and my boys believed it all. We finally trashed the Father Christmas myth last year and there were a few tears but they got over it fast when they realised they'd still be getting presents.

9:24 am  
Blogger justin said...

Hi Wendz -- thanks for dropping by.
Yes, it's a fun thing to do for the mums and dads, and I guess some kids would enjoy the joke when they find out.
When my sister and I were little, Mum and Dad told us from the start what was going on, and we all got into the fun of it.

11:31 pm  

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