Merry Christmas…if you celebrate it, that is. The date falls within the 12 days of yuletide, so it’s one of the days in our household where we share gifts and eat far too much. What I love about this time of year is focusing on the seasonal stories. Folklore is important to me, as a writer, but also as a mother. I know, and I value, the power of words. To that end, what I’m going to say next may shock you, if there are any little ones in your family…
Santa isn’t real
Yes, you already know this, dear reader – since you are an adult. What would you say if I told you that my young child also knows that Santa isn’t real? Yep, my fellow writer hubby and I came clean once our kid became old enough to understand. In other words, a pre-schooler. Now, I can imagine your horror… They’re authors! How could they ruin a magical story for their kid? Truth is, we didn’t.
The Santa game
We explained to our child that the ‘Santa Game’ is when adults like to play make-believe with kids that a magical man flies through the sky and visits every house with presents. Since some kids think this is real, it’s best to play along in school or public. We talked about who Santa really is in our household – Mummy and Daddy – but we also discussed the origins of Santa as we know him today.
A new Santa story
For any folks thinking that this takes the magic away from Christmas, it doesn’t. If you have an imaginative kid (and I’m sure you do) I guarantee they could think of a fab, creative Santa origin story all of their own making. Why can’t Santa be from Mars and visit other galaxies besides our own? Why not? Making up our own story indulges our creative sides without the guilt: there are no ‘white lies’ about Santa being real, and the naughty or nice list is something to laugh about, rather than a credible threat. Yep, Mummy is often top of the naughty list and about to receive the biggest lump of coal in the world (of course, Mummy is good at making Santa turn that coal into diamonds too, lol).
Visiting Santa for Christmas fun
Our little literary one still enjoys visiting Santa, and writing a Santa letter. This year, we watched the Santa parade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and enjoyed a separate Santa Steam train event with the big guy in red and Mrs Claus too.
Origin of Santa: Odin, Saint Nick and others
Santa, as we know the loveable character today, is an amalgamation of the Turkish Saint Nicholas, the Dutch Sinterklauss and the Norse god, Odin. I really think the biggest influence on Santa is Norse mythology though. Pine trees, mistletoe, snow and sleighs, and reindeer. Pretty Scandinavian, right? Here’s an interesting article called Santa and Odin, Christmas and Yule if you want to read about it in more detail.
Leilanie Stewart 