“Santa brought the neighbors a Nintendo Wii,” he said solemnly, naming the most-wanted gift on their own lists, which we could definitely not afford.'
It had been a meager Christmas – one of those where the kids’ wish lists were more fantasy than realistic. One where we had to shuffle bills around, and do without a few things, to have a Christmas at all. But my kids were happy that morning; their stockings had been full of surprises and candy, books, and stickers and stamps.
“Santa brought the neighbors a Nintendo Wii,” he said solemnly, naming the most-wanted gift on their own lists, which we could definitely not afford. “Mom, why did Santa bring us sticker books and stuff like that? We asked him for a Wii too, but he didn’t bring us one.” His huge, soulful brown eyes sparkled with tears. “Is it because we were bad?”, I wanted to say.. I wanted to throw my arms around him and sob.
So I wrapped him in my arms, and tried to keep my tone light and cheerful.
Lots of things aren’t fair, and kids need to understand that. But life, unfortunately, gives us plenty of opportunities to teach that lesson. Christmas is not the time, especially when it involves being treated differently by a guy they put their faith in to make their wishes come true. So until my kids all know the truth about Santa, he will remain the giver of simple surprises, not lavish gifts. Because it only took one look at my son’s holiday heartbreak to know that I’ll never risk imposing that on anyone else.
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