Konversations With Kids: Is Santa Real?

We put up the Christmas decorations today. Part of my “day off for myself” was to get the tree out of the garage and we all chipped in to get the ornaments on the tree. While we were finishing up, daughter hit me with THIS big question as she sat sprawled across the couch watching “The Santa Clause II”…

“Is Santa Clause real?”

And without missing a beat, I replied…“Yes. Santa Clause is real.”

Now some might argue my answer. Some may totally disagree with me. Some might even go as far as to say that I am lying. But they would all be wrong. Santa IS real. And in many ways!

First, let’s get the facts out there right now…there are hundreds of Santa’s all over the world. The name Santa is listed as the first name of over 15 Santa Smith’s listed on Facebook. There were at least 20+ Santa Thomas’ listed and at least 13 Santa Johnson’s. Granted…the name Santa was often a middle name. But the fact of the matter is…there are hundreds of people with the name “Santa”. It’s a very popular name. So on that fact alone, I am not a liar.

Secondly, there are actually 2 towns named Santa Clause. One in Indiana and one in Georgia. So…there IS a Santa Clause. It just happens to be a population.

Thirdly…I WANT to believe that there truly IS a Santa. Not because of the toys and such…but because of the spirit the thought of him gives me.

Every year at this time, I get a sense of…oh I dunno…childish wonder? I remember when I was a kid and coming into the living room and seeing the tree all lit up and all the presents stuffed under it (there were 6 of us. So there were LOTS of presents!). I remember the Christmas parade in our little town and watching Santa ride down the main street, tossing candy and waving at me. I remember living in Phoenix with my girlfriend (now wife) and we didn’t have a Christmas tree so we devised a Christmas table and put all of our gifts under it. I remember the first time we picked out a Christmas tree with Christopher when he was just a tiny tot, but he was smart enough to know which one was the best of the bunch. I have so many wonderful Christmas memories…and all of them are special to me. It would be a shame to not have that Christmas spirit. And for now…I love that my kids both know that the Santa spirit is alive and well in our home.

So for me…yeah…Santa is real. And he always will be. Because every time I see that man in the big red suit and he smiles at me or one of my kids, those memories come flooding back and the magic of Christmas is still very much alive in this adult soul. There really IS a Santa Clause, Ava. And he is always smiling with that twinkle in his eye and ready to make a new memory for you…