Christmas Blog Party: True or False Edition

When I was in second grade, a friend at school told me that Santa wasn’t real.

I rushed home and confronted my mom, who shrugged and said, “Her parents just want all the credit.”

And so I still believed.

In fact, I would pray to Santa at night, imagining Santa and Jesus hanging out in heaven, peering down at little Ashley, making sure she was being good.

When I was in third grade, I found a toy in my parents’ closet that I later received from Santa on Christmas.

I doubted a little, but still believed.

When I was in fourth grade, I was in a gifted program. It was pretty much the best thing ever, because we got to leave class and go down to the school basement to play games and do activities. One day, we were playing a trivia game and the question was, “Santa Claus is a real person. True or false.”

“False!” every shouted cheerfully.

“Right!” our teacher answered cheerfully.

My heart sank.

No more denying it. No more glossing over the evidence. No more looking the other way when I had a sneaking suspicion that Mom and Dad were maybe possibly Santa Claus. No more pretending I’d never heard my classmates every year tell each other how Santa is a fake.

I know Santa isn't the "reason for the season," but a little part of that Christmas magic wore off after that.

With four younger siblings, the Santa charade continued for some time - which was fun, and I imagine having my own kids will put a whole different sparkle on the season. Putting out milk and cookies, a carrot, and a note was such a treasured part of the Christmas ritual. Admittedly, I was a bit stung by the whole Santa thing - even writing a philosophy paper in college about Santa and whether parents should tell their kids about him. In the end, though, I've decided that Santa is good for the soul and the imagination. There isn't nearly enough imagination these days - why not add a smidgen more?

Santa or not, Christmas is a wonderful time of year - filled with family gatherings, Silk nog, caroling parties, Candy Cane Joe Joes (sorry, Danielle, I'm sure you don't have these in Korea, but OH EM GEE.), seeing old friends, and time off work.

I can't wait!

Ashley writes about crafting for her Etsy store, green ideas, and loving her job and her husband at Our Little Apartment. She found Wonju Wife on Twitter about a month or two ago and Danielle hasn't stopped blog-stalking her since!