By Valaysia Smith
Teen Reporter
We all believed in Santa at some point, until we didn’t.
The times when we really thought there was a man squeezing himself down our chimneys with magic just to leave us presents and eat our cookies.
I had known the truth since I was very young, so I can’t really speak much on my experience so today I’m using my mom.
As a child, my mom and her siblings had always assumed there was magic involved with Christmas. My Nana and Pawpaw would put them in a car and drive to their Grandmother’s house to see if they could beat Santa to her house but they never could beat the jolly old man. I wonder why. They would get home and somehow there would always be presents under the tree after they had gotten back home.
In a way Santa is real, he’s just a they and a that; being our parents.
Now my brother also believes in Santa. Sure he’s thirteen but there’s nothing wrong with believing.
Yes, he does thank everyone who bought the gifts when he opens them on Christmas morning but he also leaves cookies and milk for the mystery man. He’d volunteer his help and even encourage other kids to thank Santa in front of their parents looking at them. That way the parents are getting their thanks while the kid probably doesn’t know that.
I usually just volunteer and dress in whatever the holiday is. For school, I have a sweater that lights up, antlers, jingle bells that can go around my wrist, candy cane socks, and a Christmas light necklace. I’m pretty sure you all know where this is going. You’d hear me coming from a mile away, because of the bells you know.
But back to learning the truth about Santa. There are a few that had their dreams shattered. I have a friend whom I’m not going to mention that was a huge believer of Santa. One day when he turned twelve and Christmas being two weeks later was the end of his life. He was told the truth about Santa not actually coming down the chimney, being fat, or saying ho ho ho. His parents said he cried for weeks and didn’t even come out for Christmas….or at least he tried not to come out.
I recall him telling me that his dad burst in his room wearing an Iron Man suit and dragged him out of bed. Pretty crazy if you ask me but everyone’s experience is just different.
Even if you know the truth or not that doesn’t mean you have to wrap things up and cancel holiday cheers.
Christmas is actually about family, not toys and gifts. There is still a dinner that requires assistance being eaten, a room that has to be filled with a few jokes and laughs, maybe even a time where you might unintentionally burn the traditional tea cakes. It’s all about having a good time. You could even prance around the house in a random costume doing the Can Can.
Treat everything like a present. Help out where you know you can. And last but not least watch The Nightmare Before Christmas with your family, it’s quite interesting.
