Bathtime is time for pondering. I do it extensively myself, and have passed on the bathtime pondering gene to my daughter, aged 8.
Queries she, from the tub: "Mama? Do you believe in Santa Claus?"
Me: "Well, whom do you mean by Santa Claus?" (so very Bill Clinton of me......what is the meaning of "is" ?)
S: "You know, the one who comes down the chimney, eats cookies and drinks Coke."
(They have seen the advertising pictures of Santa drinking Coca-Cola; therefore, Santa must have Coke with his cookies.)
Me (waffling): "Well... there is an historical person named St. Nicholas. Signed the Nicene Creed and all that. Good man, very generous, helped others...."
S (insistent): " But what about SANTA CLAUS?"
Me: "I'm getting there! Hang on!! In German, Saint Nicholas is transliterated as Sankt Niklaus-----which, if pronounced quickly, sounds like 'Santa Claus.' "
S: "So, who comes down the chimney?"
Me (more waffling): "Erhm, well, there's lots of legends and things that have built up over time.....ohh... there's the phone! Excuse me!!"
What's the matter with me? Why couldn't I find the courage to say "SAINT NICHOLAS IS DEAD BUT HIS LEGACY LIVES ON!"
We've never actively promoted --or conversely, DENIED --the existence of Santa around here as some believers do (like, we never call him SATAN Claus, as some do) - so this is just what she has picked up from the popular culture.
She also believes in the Tooth Fairy.
So I'll let her live in childhood for a little while longer, neither confirming nor denying the existence of Saint Nicholas/Sankt Niklaus/Santa Claus.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
4 months ago
7 comments:
you know...I don't think my mom did either way. I knew there was no such thing as santa claus...or at least came to that conclusion at some point. I wouldn't worry.
Lol we are in the same situation...I have recently told her that he just pretend...lol fell on deaf ears and she still believes, so my conscience is clear I haven't lied ;)
Opps I only came over to say: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :)
Thank you, Mrs Blythe!!
A question for you....is your Day of Remembrance treated a little like Thanksgiving here in the States?
Eee Ghads. Well, I have NO idea as to handle that one cause thankfully, i'm not there yet. but i can see how you'd rather someone else expose the naughty truth. I think your response was clever. :) Evasive and clever.
Rememberance day is not a family get-together time generally. We also have a harvest festival around September time which is a church thing, kind of like thankgiving, but no where near as big as Christmas and Easter. There is also Rushbearing festivals that take place at the beginning of September we have morris dancers etc. Google morris dancers and have a laugh - yes some men do really choose to dress like that! :D
The Doctor Dictionary word for Nov. 27th was Equivocate, To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to avoid committing oneself to anything definite.
Soooooooooo let's use this in a sentence.
By equivating, S. goes on believing her own thing or is still confused.
E. equivocated the subject of S.C. while travailing on how to get out of the bathroom.
I'm not sure I could think of many more sentences. :-)
None of my kids believe in S.C. or the tooth fairy. We've never led them either way, but for whatever reason, they know it's not true. They look at grown-ups very oddly when asked, if they've written a list for Santa Claus. I always remember Mrs. Harris, a wonderful speech teacher. "Give the kids presents from Santa Claus, but also give the kids gifts from the dog or the cat. It's always fun to have fun with your imagination."
Didoodle
My dear, you know I am a master of equivocation.
it's a gift.
And a curse.
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