Something I've learned in my 35 years is that lots of times I don't really make sense. I say this because I hate Winter with a blinding passion. But....I really love Santa Claus. And in American culture you can't really have one without the other. But it's not so much the current identity of Santa Claus that I love because he has unfortunately become intertwined with commercialism. You really have to go back to some of the origins of Santa Claus to get why I love him so much....
And because I love mythology and fairy tales so much, I went and found a couple of internet pages on the origins of Mr. Claus himself. One is here and another with lots of information on different cultural interpretations of Father Christmas is here.
In keeping with these mythologies of Santa Claus, I really and truly see the spirit of Santa Claus in those who do good for others. Just for the good of doing it and for no other reason. In our culture it really saddens me that so many kids have developed such big expectations for expensive gifts. Don't get me wrong, I understand why kids want the good stuff because hey, I as a parent would love the good stuff too. But...most of the time we don't get all the expensive stuff because we just can't. And during the years when we have extra money I always try to get a little something extra for friends who don't have as much as we do. Or donate to local charities for kids whose families' can't get them stuff.
So when the time comes for me to have the talk about Santa Claus with my kiddos, that's what I'm going to tell them. Because I do believe Santa is still alive and well for some of us. I believe that small miracles can happen when you least expect them and that Santa is a great mythological story that helps keep those small miracles alive.
But I'm always going to hate Winter LOL
P.S. I had to post this because LOOK it's Santa Claus in action!!!
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