By EK Wills
Is Santa coming to your house? What if you don’t have a chimney?
As we move into December, the Christmas list for each child is growing. Lego is a favourite for our ten year old and the teenaged girls are looking at earrings and clothing: all things they have to choose themselves or they won’t like them.
Then we came up with a brainwave.
Although it’s been four months since we moved, we’re still working out what we need and where it should go. The big-ticket items were to upsize beds and the girls want doubles so they can spread out and set up their princess retreats.
We made a deal. Santa can provide beds this year.
That way, we’re not collecting more items into the house that will end up on the rubbish tip of tomorrow, it is more practical, and has the added bonus of being sought after items. Win win for all involved.
What this meant though was that the Santa ritual of stockings and waking on Christmas morning had to be handled with care.
Did the ten year old know about Santa? The girls weren’t sure. And what would he want for Christmas since he didn’t want a bed?
With some careful questioning, we learned that he knew Santa’s truth and had for a while. As he pointed out, we never had a chimney and how weird is it that a stranger is allowed in your house at night while everyone is sleeping just to bring you presents!
He didn’t mourn the loss of the façade because he can move into the grown up world of big sisters and teenagers.
He still wants Lego and this means we can all have some fun on Christmas day. We can do present opening on the day plus celebrate in other ways.
Rather than being house bound to play with new presents, we are free to go out, and maybe go to the beach to watch the sunrise. That way it won’t feel like there is a hole to fill but rather something new to look forward to.
Boxing Day
Our family is a modern one in that there are many branches to the family tree, even within the generation. So we developed a traditional extended-family gathering on Boxing Day. This way, friends can gather for Christmas Eve, nuclear families can celebrate on Christmas Day and cousins can catch up the day after.
Boxing Day celebrations started with Kris Kringle gifts for everyone. Each person was nominated to buy one item with a maximum price tag and it would go under the tree. Then everyone had the opportunity to select one and if they didn’t like it they had the choice to take someone else’s. This would go on until everyone had taken a gift. It was a great icebreaker, especially for new members to the extended family.
Boxing Day has since progressed to spending time together and nurturing ourselves with food without the need for presents. Now there is no pressure to purchase unwanted trinkets and it has become a more relaxed gathering.
Thankfully we have transitioned smoothly from the fun fantasy of a magical provider of gifts to the practical providers of future Christmases. We wont be adding more fuel to the landfill of tomorrow and we maintain the connection with important people in our lives.
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