As I mentioned in my previous post, my son W., wants a gazillion things for Christmas. He has a serious case of the gimmies. I really don't think it's because he's spoiled, okay, maybe a bit, but he still believes in Santa. And Santa doesn't pay for gifts, right? He just has his elves work a little OT and KAZAAM! The gifts miraculously appear under the Christmas tree. He truly believes it's that easy.
W. is the type of child that believes in everything. He's 9 and shows no signs of even questioning the existence of St. Nick, the Easter bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. I think he'll still have faith in these characters well into his twenties. Do your kids know yet?
This all being said, I wanted to prepare, the sometimes dramatic son, for the reality of Christmas morning. I wanted to do this without making him suspicious about the true identity of Mr. Claus.
I began by asking him what was the number one item on his wishlist. He, without hesitation, yelled, "A Wii!"
I think to myself, "Great, the top seller of the season." UGH.
I then told him that Santa may choose to give him that, but he probably would not give him any of the other electronics he asked for (I mean really, does he need a Wii, a PSP, and an Xbox 360?!)
I also told him that Wii's are expensive and that he probably wouldn't get 10 or 15 gifts under the tree. He would probably only get 6 or 7, or maybe even less.
He thought for a second and looked at me with a puzzled look. "Santa has to pay for the gifts he brings?"
Oh boy. Quick, quick, think, think.
"No, of course not. But some gifts are more valuable than others. And Santa has to put this value on everything. He has to bring gifts to all of the children in the world. He needs to make sure he is fair and gives each child gifts that are worth the same."
I continued as he looked at me with those big gorgeous eyes of his, "As you get older, the gifts you want are ususally more valuable and that means less number of gifts. Okay?" I waited for the drama.
"Okay."
He went on his way as I stood there, completely baffled. He reacted very well. With W. it could go either way. My boy is growing up. But not too much, because he still believes!
5 comments:
We're dealing with this too. Our oldest will be nine at the end of December, and we (mistakenly) thought last year would be the last one she would "believe", so we got her a very nice, very expensive desk from Santa. Now, she wants an American Girl doll, an ipod, and lots of other stuff. I'm SO stealing your explanation. Brilliant!
What a sweet little guy! Miss Turtle is 9 and has been questioning for a few years now. She even told someone "you know that Santa's not real right?" when she didn't think I could hear her. BUt she pretends to believe. Oh boy does she pretend to believe. I am assuming that she thinks that if she admits that she doesn't believe in Santa anymore, she won't get gifts anymore.
Well, my son is 11 and so over Santa...(which makes me sad)
And, now he just goes right for my pockets. His list = OUT OF CONTROL.
Why? do they need 15 different gaming systems? (each system needs its OWN games)
UGH.
I cant.
its great to know that kids still believe in Santa! and the Santa cant give him everything is a brilliant idea
Only my 8 year old still believes.
My 11 year old asked me last year and I finally told her...I was totally surprised that Santa had not been outed to her at school.
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