Santa Claus question ...

I knew as soon as I could spell and my dad's Santa letters spelled his last name "Clause."


Kind of spoiled my childhood since I picked up my mom's spelling skills at 7.

 

Aww, man, he took the freeway. How else?

 

Outing alert: Printdust's dad is ...

 

Our 8-year-old, who's still buying the Tooth Fairy, lost a tooth about 9:30 the night before Thanksgiving. In the chaos of getting ready to host several family members for dinner the next day, the Tooth Fairy forgot to leave any cash.

When she questioned her dad the next day about the oversight, he wisely replied, "Thanksgiving is probably a holiday for the Tooth Fairy, too." She gave me the stink-eye and didn't believe it for a second, even though the Tooth Fairy dropped a 10-dollar bill that night.

BTW, for those of you without kids, the going rate per tooth has increased about 50-fold since I was a kid. One of her friends gets $20 for each lost tooth. And this family has 3 kids who currently have baby teeth.

 

My three sisters (two older) did a good job of keeping me out of the loop.
Finally, when I was 8, we were getting ready to drive from KC to NY to spend the holidays with extended family. I was at a friend's house when my three sisters came over and told me Santa had came.

It was Dec. 21 -- in the middle of the afternoon.

Me: "Dad, why did Santa come so early?"
Dad: "He knows who has to travel during Christmas. He just got our presents out early this year."
Me: "Oh."

The next year, I really started to have doubts Santa existed.

 

I figured it out and asked my Mom. She said yeah, there was no Santa Claus but don't tell the other kids - eventually I had eight younger brothers and sisters.

My youngest sister, when she was six, said we had to leave cookies and cocoa for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. I had never heard that before.

My youngest daughter, who is seven, said you have to leave water outside for the reindeer. We had red food coloring, and when she saw that she knew Rudolph had been to our house.

Christmas is more fun when the kids believe in Santa Claus.

I had a friend who told her kids from the start there was no Santa Claus - she told them there once was a St. Nicholas. I asked her why, and she said she didn't want to lie to her kids.

 

For my kid, it's a quarter and something from the dollar store.

And she still believes in the tooth fairy. She saw her glow under her door one night, and the fairy also left fairy dust (glitter) all over the floor.

 

Incredibly brilliant ideas. Will try to remember those if I choose to breed.

 

You're a hopeless romantic, aren'tcha Flash?

 

Ssssssshhhh! Don't tell anyone.

 

I can't remember when I found out, but I do remember the coolest Christmas ever. Beneath the tree was a Reebok shoe box with one high-top out, tilted up onto the box -- just like in the store. Man, cool as fuck.