Santa

Dominic got to see "real" Santa this year. Since he didn't believe in him before I never bothered. But this year he believes. (See this post.) So when I saw the Santa I took Dominic over to see him. He was a bit shy at first, but warmed up very quickly to tell him what he wanted. Thankfully I'd heard this list before.

Caitlin was petrified. In fact, she clung so tightly to Jon that she turned her fingers white. When she couldn't see him any more she relaxed her hold. Quite a bit later I asked her if she wanted to go see Santa and she jumped on me and hung on for dear life. At least right now, she is NOT interested in what Santa can do for her.

Dominic, however, really enjoyed the experience.

They gave him this little tractor made out of candy. Super cute!

Santa is real!

One of the benefits of having children later in our marriage was being able to watch our friends being parents. I tried to learn from their mistakes or successes. 

So I made the decision to tell my children that Santa wasn't real. I didn't want them to find out later I'd lied and then wonder what else I might have lied to them about. 

So when Dominic was 2 yrs old he asked me about Santa and I told him the story and then explained to him that it was like all fairy tales. It was a really cool story, but it wasn't real. But since some children still believed in fairy tales he wasn't supposed to tell anyone that Santa wasn't real.

He seemed okay with this and hasn't ever questioned me.

At Thanksgiving we were visiting my grandpa in the hospital and a nurse asked Dominic if he was ready for Santa to come. He replied -

"Santa isn't real. My mom is Santa. She's the one that gets me presents."

The nurse was a bit surprised and made a comment on how mature he was.

A couple of days later, out of the blue, Dominic informs me that he's decided to believe in Santa.

"Okay, Dominic, that's fine."

"Do you believe he's real mom?"

"No, Dominic, but it's okay if you want to."

"Okay. I want to. Because I'll get more presents if he's real."

Yea! He's a smart kid all right.

I thought he would forget. But he has mentioned it every time he sees a Santa or a picture of him. He has a very clear picture in his mind what the "real" Santa looks like and so he'll inform me whether each Santa is the real one or not.

Poor kid is going to be a very disappointed little boy when he wakes up on Christmas morning if he thinks he's getting more than the normal three presents he usually gets. =)