Anti-Santa

My son is not a big fan of Santa. It's not that he's scared of Santa coming into our house or sitting on his lap. He just doesn't buy into it. I think he's way too practical to get into it. Reindeer flying? Hmmmmm... We have a zillion Christmas books, half of which are Santa based. He tolerates reading them, but refuses to get excited about it. Arghhhh! 4 years old is supposed to be prime time for the magic of this red-suited legend. When asked what he wants Santa to bring him, Andrew says, "I don't really want anything from Santa." The only thing that gets a response is if we mention that just because he wants Santa to skip him, Santa will still bring Lily things. He doesn't like that idea much.

Ironically, my 4 year old is much more into the actual reason we celebrate Christmas. He is fascinated by the story of Christ's birth, the wise men, angels, etc etc. Which is only ironic because we don't attend church. We don't even own a friggin' nativity set. (Not because we don't believe in these things deep down...but because we are lazy on Sunday morning and we can't really decide on a denomination. The Catholic in me HATES "Church shopping" for a church that feels right. But I don't feel Catholic either. -sigh-) Anyway, I digress. My child is going to force us to wake up and get going on Sunday mornings. He has a real religious bone in his body...who am I to smother that? And who am I to keep forcing Santa down his throat, when he's more interested in the son of God?

However...last week at his school (a Christian pre-school...so Christmas is allowed), his class apparently composed a list for Santa. What gifts they wanted. Then the teachers posted it in the hallway, so the parents could easily see what our children had requested of Santa.

Andrew wrote, "A green and white puppy."

Hmmmm. What the heck does that mean? I asked him, and he acted like I should remember seeing this. Which is bad. Because that means he has something specific in mind. Yesterday, I was probing him some more to find out what it was and he said, "Santa knows what I'm talking about." YIKES. I asked him to describe what this puppy looked like and he said, "You'll see, Mom. When I open it at Christmas."

Uh. Oh.

The magic of Santa may be killed this year once and for all. When Santa doesn't bring the green and white puppy because "Santa" doesn't know what the heck that means.

On a happier note, Andrew is also turning out to be a very good gift giver. I took him out shopping for Jeff and Lily, and he had definite ideas of what he wanted to get them. And they were really good ideas. I can't tell you what he got Jeff, but as an example, when I set him loose in the toy aisles to pick what he wanted for Lily, I was all set to reject some Spiderman figure or Matchbox car. Instead, my thoughtful son brings a sorting box to me. And says, "I think Lily will really like this because she likes to put toys into things and then take them out." Which is so true. It will probably be her favorite gift. And my heart swelled. Then yesterday, Jeff took him shopping for me. Andrew was positively giddy about what he wanted to get me. Jeff told me I'll never guess what it is, because it is so off the wall. But that it shows a lot of thought and insight into what I'd want/need.

Who cares about Santa, when your kid already understands the joy of giving? And besides, I'm sure the greedy years are yet to come. ;) I'll enjoy this innocence of Christmas while it lasts.