The Truth About Christmas
My youngest and I were sitting on the couch the other night, just hanging out and watching some television. My husband was at work, and my older child was at a sleepover party. Out of nowhere, my son says: “Mom, I have to tell you something. I know the truth about Christmas.”
My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t know what to say because I was so shocked.
I’d been dreading this day ever since my kids were born. I knew it would come, but I still wasn’t ready. Honestly, I thought I had a few more years to keep the secret going.
“What makes you say that?” I asked him.
He looked at me with raised eyebrows and says, “Mom, I’ve known for a while that you and Dad are Santa.”
He went on to tell me that he has known for quite some time. He went on to say, “I know you guys are also the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and I know you move the Elf.”
What?! He doesn’t even believe in Elf on the Shelf anymore?!
“How can I move the Elf if we can’t touch them?” I asked.
After all, I am very proficient on the Elf on the Shelf rules. The most important Elf rule: Don’t touch them, or they will lose their magic.
“Mom, really,” my son said.
The time had come.
My son no longer believed in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, or Elf of the Shelf.
I have to admit that I started crying.
“It’s okay, Mom. I’m just growing up,” my son said.
I know they can’t stay little forever, but it all happened too fast. I was going to continue to lie and try to make him believe again, but I knew the gig was up. He was on to us.
I told him that our parents had kept the secret from us, just as their parents had done for them, and that he would do the same for his kids someday.
“Are you still excited about Christmas even though you know about Santa now?” I asked him.
“Oh, yeah, I love Christmas,” he said. “Besides, it’s really about Jesus’ birthday anyways.”
I smiled.
While the secret of Santa and his friends is gone for my kids, I am not devastated like I thought I would be.
Instead, we talked more about what Christmas is really about and the importance of doing good things for others.
We talked about how it is important to still believe in the things that we can’t see. We have to believe in hope, goodness, and love.
We also talked about how we can’t discuss this with our friends as to not reveal the secret for those that still believe.
A few years ago, my kids got a trampoline for Christmas (back when they still believed in Santa). It was one of their all-time favorite gifts. They still love to play on it. Now that my son has revealed that he knows the truth about Santa, I thought it was important to tell him the story about the trampoline.
My husband and I decided the kids were old enough to enjoy a trampoline, so we picked it up about a week before Christmas and stored it at a friend’s place. We were so excited to see their faces on Christmas morning when they woke up to see a trampoline in the backyard. But, since it was a gift from Santa, we would have to wait until Christmas Eve to set it up.
The kids went to bed on Christmas Eve. It was pouring down rain and very cold that night. I was going through a very aggressive chemotherapy for breast cancer that year. I looked at my husband that night and said, “I just don’t know that we can put this trampoline together tonight with me being so sick and the weather this bad.”
My husband told me to stay inside and he would put the trampoline together. I told my son this story about how his Daddy loved him and his sister so much that he was out in the freezing cold rain, in the dark, with a head lamp on, putting the trampoline together so they could have it on Christmas morning. My son’s face lit up as I told him this story. We both smiled.
I thought that when this day came and my children knew the truth about Santa and the others, that I would be devastated, but I’m not. Things are different, but not bad. The magic of the holidays is still there.
The real reason for the season is still in focus for our kids, and that’s what matters to us.
The next day, my oldest came home from her sleepover, and my son asked her if she believed in Santa still. She revealed that she also knew.
Then, my oldest looked at me and said, “But I do have one question, Mom.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Where do you and Dad hide the presents?” she asked.
“Oh no, that’s one secret that we will never share,” I told her.
How did you handle it when your kids finally knew the truth? Was it a hard moment for you, a relief, or was it not as hard as you thought it would be? Share with us!
