Santa

Do you celebrate Christmas with the inclusion of Santa??

I did growing up... and I think I turned out ok (though some of you might disagree). Joel didn't, but he didn't even have a  Christmas tree, let alone stockings filled with small toys, toiletries and food. In marriage, we compromised. I got my tree, and I didn't bother to bring up Santa... too often. ;)

And so it's humorous to watch when store clerks as my children if they are excited for Santa, or what they asked him for Christmas, because they are meant with blank stares.

His parents a few years ago gifted us a couple books about the saints Valentinus and Patrick from Voice of the Martyrs. After seeing how Liam loved those, and loving the history and persecuted Christian connection for everyday life, I picked up a couple more, including one on Saint Nicholas. It has been a favorite this Christmas. But it doesn't delve too much into Santa, besides showing a picture of him and his reindeer at the end, while Saint Nicholas stands in the foreground. And thus Saint Nicholas and Santa (or Noah, depending on the day) were on opposite sides of the spectrum.

And then came the evening a few nights ago where the boys had fallen asleep at the end of their quiet time, and would not be aroused no matter how much I tried. Until 7pm. And so I felt bad putting them to bed early, but wanted a relaxing shower, so after putting Callum down, I let them watch a video that Danya had bought for us the year before (Why Do We Call It Christmas?)

And after it was over, I asked how it was. Aiden said it was scary (because of small clip with robots, apparently?!) and Liam stated,

"Mommy, did you know that Saint Nicholas and Santa are the same person?"

"Yes."

"Mommy, Saint Nicholas died and is in heaven."

"Yes...."

"That means Santa is dead and with Jesus too."

"Ummm, ok."

"So why do people keep pretending he's alive?"

Yikes. And thus we went into a talk about the spirit of giving and being generous with the many blessings God has given to us, etc etc

And I left only hoping my son wouldn't spoil it for any cousins, friends, etc he came across that believed in the bearded, red-robed man.

And then came our Santa train tickets.

You see, Joel, although he doesn't want to promote Santa, had heard rave reviews about this entertaining night at the Museum. And so he got us tickets. You ride a train to the "north pole" where you are met by Santa and the Mrs.

It actually went pretty decent. I think he was caught up in the emotional atmosphere of all the other little excited children. Though he was pretty skeptical and asked Santa if he can really fit down a person's chimney. And I'm not sure if he connected why Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Nor did he connect why Mrs. Claus gave him a red nose (he calls it his clown nose).

Still not sure whether we should check out library books on that aspect of Christmas, how much we should delve into or promote it... for now I'm content with letting his mind jump back and forth between reality and imagination, I guess.

Just don't ask him about Rudolph ;)

 We surprised the boys with this trip, after stopping to visit Daddy at his work and the Chick-fil-A across the road. :)

 They had a fake polymer ice-skating rink... that really was slippery if you were wearing socks. Joel found it humorous that if you wanted to keep your shoes on, you had to wear hospital booties... hopefully Dr. Alderidge won't see this photo- although Liam had fun (even with a few bruises) slipping and sliding purposefully on the "ice", at least his braced arm did not re-break!

 Even Callum wanted in on the action. Since by this time Aiden knew we would be riding a train, he refused to get in on the fun, for fear it might replace his beloved train ride.

 While waiting for our ticket time, the boys made reindeer food...

 One of the only pictures of Liam of the night with his eyes open- he gets the blinking from me, I'm afraid :)

 High fives from Santa...

 ... and reindeer noses from the Mrs.

 The boys had a hard time keeping their noses on...

 Saying goodbye to the "The North Pole"

 My bundled baby... he refuses to wear any heavier coat (the puffer coat restricts his mobility), literally screaming and pulling at it until you take it off. 

 There were a couple of "too hot" mishaps, but the boys still enjoyed their hot cocoa...

 ... can't you tell? ;)

 This time Aiden was excited for the ice rink.

 And Liam asked Mommy if she would dance with him in the rink :)  How could I not? Well, by dance he meant slip and slide, so he quickly got bored with his Mommy who told him she couldn't go sliding across the ice purposefully while pregnant. :) Callum on the other hand was more content with slipping under adult supervision!