So, my brother takes my nephew to get pictures with Santa. The little guy is informed that if he wants that new red dinosaur, he’d better tell Santa, just to make sure it happens. My nephew takes a look at the truly splendid Santa, and runs screaming. He informs my brother that he’ll talk to Santa “next year.” So, no ’09 Santa pics. And a story that will be told throughout the ages, lo these many Christmases to come, is born.
You think it’s a golden memory of childhood you’re creating. The kid thinks it’s some beardy, red giant that’s going to squeeze them to death. The things that an adult thinks will enchant a kid rarely work out. It’s why you’ll see a 5-year old lying on the ground, screaming and kicking their feet in the middle of Disneyland. Happiest place on earth. Ha!
We grownups, we all see our childhood memories through an adult lens. And we’re not so great at really seeing what it is that will knock a kid’s socks off. A friend of mine took her goddaughter to one of those Renaissance dinner theater things. The handsome prince walks up to the 7-year old little girl, with curly blond locks and a cupid’s bow mouth, and offers her a crown to be his princess for the night. My friend gasps. Every little girls dream. But the kid ain’t having it. No, thank you, she says. My friend says she nearly snatched that crown and plopped it on her own head to show the kid how it’s done. Perhaps it was more of a big girl dream.
I think a lot of it is that kids still have that glowing imagination. They don’t need a real live Santa or prince. The one in their head is so much better than the “reality” will ever be. But we need the guy in the suit or that magic castle in the middle of a Florida swamp to fill in the holes that wear in our imaginations as we grow older. Kids never plan to be amazed. They just are. It’s pretty rare that their imaginary worlds and ours meet. And it’s almost never something that we cook up for them on purpose. You just have to be there, and paying attention, when whatever it is catches their imaginations, and their little faces light up. You can’t really force it. But it’s so worth waiting for.
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7 comments:
My mom tells me that she took me to the mall to see Santa and I screamed until he pulled down his beard to show me...it was my dad. He moonlighted as Santa, the ice cream man, and some other odd jobs when I was little. Gosh, I really wish I remembered when he was the ice cream man. That would've been so cool!
Several times I remember crying because I didn't want "to see Santa". He scared me. My parents said that if I didn't talk to him, I wouldn't get anything for XMas. This frightened me more than talking to him did!
Since then I have felt that that is an awful thing to say to kids. If they don't want to be with Santa, why not just say for the kid to tell the parents what they want and the parents will be certain to let him know.
Because of horrible memories of Santa, he is nowhere to be found in my house nor on XMas cards.
My gramma worked part-time at the Del Taco in the Village in Oklahoma City when I was a kid. It was close enough to her house that we could walk. And she'd make special cherry 7-Ups for us. Way, way cool.
I have absolutely no memories of sitting on Santa's lap. Except for that one time when I was 24, and that was an entirely different story. Anyhoo. But I had that thing with my parents not wanting to "lie" about Santa (60s parenting).
You'd probably get the willies if you saw my parents house. My Dad loves the Coca-Cola Santas. They're all over the place.
[and BTW, I now have that Ice Cream Man song by Jonathan Richman stuck in my head. In a good way. Love that song.]
in all my Santa lap pics I'm smiling but my brother is balling - i knew were my bread was buttered!
There's a very good reason why Bad Santa and The Santaland Diaries exist. You're way better off taking your pup or kitty to see Santa if you want a good picture.
LOL my CAT would NOT take a good sSanta lap pic and believe me I have considered taking her to those pet photo things - I think that is strictly for dogs and those docile pets with natural lobotomies (i e ferrets, guinea pigs, iguanas, etc.)
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