Screw Santa! That Present is From Me!

Growing up, I was told right away there was no Santa. It put me in a special, "in the  know" club of kids, but it also made leaving my house a little awkward from October-December. "Have you been a good girl for Santa this year?!?!" Cashiers would excitedly beam at me from behind the counter. "No." I would stare deadpanned back at them. It could have been just my imagination, but it seemed like suddenly they were bagging all the candles and lighters further away from me.

 

Now I'm an adult and married. My husband  was raised in a much more traditional way. After discussing and comparing both of our childhoods, we decided to raise our children believing in Santa. "Lying to our kids when they trust us most, and then having to pay for their therapy later on in life?! That sounds like fun!" I gushed to my spouse.

 

But it's turned out to be harder for me than I realized. My main problem is giving credit to a fictional character when I'm the one who has done all the legwork of scoring those perfect gifts. Hello?! Can I get a little Mom worship up in here? I don't know what that says about my personality, but I'm sure it's something positive.

 

I've also found the lying part to be more challenging than I anticipated. So for that, I just stick to my go to parenting move for all hard questions- I act like I don't know either and suggest we consult someone much more knowledgeable. "Is Santa real? Is the the Elf on the Shelf real? Where do babies come from?" I'm not sure either honey. How about you ask Grandma next time you see her.

 

However my favorite part of this whole routine is leaving out cookies for Santa. This has to be the one day in the entire year the kids do not try to eat, "my" food. Sitting back with my feet up, eating a plate full of delicious cookies in complete silence?! Somebody definitely got this part right.

-Nicole Brown, owner of @nickichicki_