most 'precious' christmas stories

the word 'precious' has already been used on our holiday threads. mrs. shockey and i know ours. would love hearing everyone else's.

ours: 19 years ago, when eldest heir shockey was two months or shy of 4, we celebrated our first christmas in our first house. little man was at that perfect age, old enough to understand christmas and to visit santa claus at macy's. and to count down how many more 'sleeps' until ol' st. nick came down our chimney. mrs. shockey's sister julie, his fave aunt, was spending christmas eve with us, wisely opting to sleep on the living couch to 'guard the tree.' and little man carefully pointed out where santa's milk and cookies should be put so he'd be sure to see 'em.

we'd been careful to put only a few gifts from out-of-towners under the tree beforehand, 'cause little man knew the biggest, bestest stuff was put there by santa, via the chimney after his long trip from the north pole. so he understood he had to be in bed early 'lest santa be scared off. so he was sound asleep by 9.

an hour later our procession from the attic began. our families had gone nuts with the gifts, spoiling the first grandchild on both sides terribly. it all looked so perty all around the tree, our last 'real' one. all systems were go by 11.

at 5 a.m. the little guy could wait no more. but instead of coming to our room to wake us and go downstairs he was intent on scoping it out solo. julie heard him at the top of the staircase. then listened as he counted off the steps. 'one...two...three...four...five..'

five was enough to get a view of the tree. and the pile of gifts surrounding it. julie somehow was able to maintain her asleep pose and heard a high-pitched. whispered scream: 'HE CAME!! HE CAME!! HE CAME!!'

little man wanted to go right at it, going back up the stairs, through the 'dresser room' between his room and ours, the patter of those footed pj's clear as a bell on the wooden floor. boom, our door was pushed open.

'MOMMY!! DADDY''( why'd she always get top billing?) 'SANTA CAME!! CAN WE GO DOWN NOW?!'

we've re-told the story at every christmas eve since, whether we have a new audience or not. i can't tell it or type it without a lump in my throat. we'd had the perfect christmas we had dreamed about. and we would have it forever, no matter what the future had in store for us. at moments like this, with your dream family becoming a reality too-goodt-be true, you feel, well, indescribably content... proud... deleriously happy.

as if you can take on anything. plenty of valleys and other peaks have followed for us over the last 19 years. when i'm scuffling in one of those valleys this is the story of us that snaps me out of it. every time.

 

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

My girlfriend's niece had a boy who turned three in September. She and her husband announced last year that they absolutely were NOT going to teach him about Santa, because they don't want to lie to him.

To each his own. But they are screwing him and themselves out of having an experience like yours.

Coincidentally, they are practicing veganism too. /crossthread

Someone is going to wind up being in therapy or becoming an ax murderer, or both. :

 

i loathe people with that attitude, 'not wanting to lie' to their future axe murderer. they damn well better be planning on making sure their kid doesnt go around telling his friends there's no santa, that their folks are just lying to them and it's all a creation by the thieves on mad ave. they'd best be prepared to be raising a child who knows the truth but who also has no friends.

 

My parents had my uncle dress up like Santa when I was 7 or 8 and I "caught" him leaving our yard (my parents made sure to keep me awake til my uncle got done with a party he was at).

Try being the only kid in 5th grade that still believes! LOL

That said...when is a good time to have that talk. I have a mini-me heading into his 1st Christmas (will be 2 months old). I can tell him now..right? Don't want him going down my path!

 

I loathe people who think lying to their children is the only way to acclimate them to society. Look, tell your kids about Santa if that makes you happy. I have nothing against that. Your story is sweet, really, and I would never want to take that away from you. But kids are smart and have more access to information beyond their parents' control now than ever before.

Hell, when I was a kid, 20-plus years ago, everyone in my elementary school knew the truth about Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy and all that other bullshit. I remember other kids in first or second grade telling each other not to tell their parents they know because they'll get more presents that way.

My parents never lied to me, mostly because my mom is very religious and thinks Santa and the Easter Bunny defile important holy days. I don't recall if I was ever a brat about it because I don't think anyone I knew believed in that crap by the age I could process the concept of lying.

But even if someone was a brat about it, I don't think that would affect friendships. Kids are vain as fuck. Want your kid to have friends as a 7-year-old? Spoil the shit out of them and get them the toys and video games their friends want. Dress them in cool clothes. Hell, having the inside scoop on Santa probably would have made someone cooler in my elementary school if, you know, everyone didn't already know the deal.

No friends because you know Santa isn't real? That's some judgmental and dated horseshit. Maybe that made sense when you were a kid 50 years ago and there wasn't cynicism being pumped through the veins of society. But that's just not the case now. Everyone's an asshole. Little kids live to prove how smart and cynical they are.

Frankly, any kid with the access to the information they have now who isn't smart enough to use it to debunk things like Santa Claus probably would take candy from strangers. Cynicism is healthy. And Santa is bullshit.

 

Santa ain't real? F*** all you haters.

 

If you set up Elf on the Shelf properly (placing the elf up high before you read the story and then pointing out the elf after the story is read), the look on your child's face is priceless. She gasped when she saw him.

There's a reason why they are selling millions of those books.

 

versa

geez, who pissed in your cornflakes? lighten up there, francis... i'm not talking about elementary-school kids. i'd expect kids in grade school to already have an understanding about the mythology. it's pretty much every kid for themself once you send 'em of into 'real-world' schools. i'm talking about pre-schoolers, most of whom arent looking up shit on their computers and all that 'modern info train' they have all kinds of access to. heck, damn straight eldest shockey heir knew the real deal by the time he was 5 or so.

but if one of his 'playdate pals' from nursery school/pre-school was going around 'outing' santa as a fraud and their parents as liars, damn straight i'd have a problem with that kid 's parents. nor would i do much to encourage my little one from adding the little shit in training to his best friends list.

hey, to each his own. your kids are your kids, nobody else's. raise 'em to speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth 24/7. kind of limits the bedtime books you read 'em, i suppose, but there are plenty with fairy godmothers and talking bears and wizards and stoopid stuff like that. go right ahead. life isn't a popularity contest, after all.

but i liked raising three boys with an age-appropriate handle on reality. and was thrilled that they were always friends with just about all of their schoolmates. my kids have each had schoolmates who were raised by parents of both extremes annd we've all seen 'em -- on one hand, the 'we'd never lie to our children about ridiculous, phony stuff like santa.' and on the other, the parents who strive to 'let our children be children for as long as we can.'

neither the parents nor their kids ever had many friends, which i suppose will save you a lot of money on birthday presents. but also leaves the parents often having to explain to their child why everyone else is going to tommy's birthday party except me...

but, hey, right is might! and you'll always have the truth on your side! our kids will never be spoiled and delusional.

no -- they'll just be awfully lonely. it's never too soon to give your kid life lessons about how much people suck. be my guest. like i said i couldnt care less how you choose to raise your kid -- assuming it's not to be a serial killer, of course -- as long as they don't mess with how i'm choosing to raise mine. tell 'em all about the mythology of santa. just make sure they understand to keep it 'our little secret.'

 

I don't have a kid. That said, I don't have a problem with you telling your kids about Santa. But I think it's ridiculous to paint with generalities like you seem to be. Are all Jewish kids lonely?

What do we gain from this Santa Claus idea, anyway?

 

Yes, while I was busy thanking my parents for their wonderful gifts paid for with their hard-earned money, other kids were imagining a mythical creeper who watches children all year long and makes value judgments about them.

Santa Claus and Catholic guilt go hand in hand.

 

Years ago, daughter loses a tooth on first day of High Holy Days. We can't find a bill that isn't a $20. It's been a busy few days, and neither of wants to go back out.

Next morning, daughter comes flying down the stairs. "Mom! Dad! The tooth fairy left me twenty dollars!"

"Twenty dollars? Are you sure? I've never heard of anything like that. Do you think it's a Rosh Hashanah bonus? That would mean the tooth fairy's Jewish. I didn't know that. Cool!"

 

My aunt and uncle put their kids to bed on Christmas Eve and were enjoying a drink around the fire. About an hour passed and my cousin, then 6 or 7, ran down stairs with a bucket of water and threw it on the fire in the fireplace.

He looked at my aunt and uncle and screamed, "You're trying to kill Santa!!!!"

That one still makes me laugh...