Santa?

I believed in Santa until I was 5. I loved the idea of Santa before I found out he didn’t exist. Our house did not have a traditional chimney. We had an old-fashioned wood burning stove that was propped up on a single layer brick platform in our dining room which was directly outside of my bedroom door. There was a small exhaust pipe that extended through the roof to let out smoke. Mind you, we did have a traditional furnace. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember once ever using that wood burning stove. Years later my dad would remove it and the brick base that it sat on. Anyway, I knew that there was no way that Santa would be able to fit down that pipe. Mom would always tell me he was magic, and he could shrink. Seemed logical to me. Why would a parent lie to their kid?

One year Santa coincidentally used the exact same wrapping paper as my parents did. Odd coincidence I thought. Maybe the elves ran out of wrapping paper and had to borrow some of our stash? Either way, it didn’t sit right with me, but I let it go. So long as I had presents, I didn’t care. But that was where I started putting together the pieces.

I was a logical little kid and I remember thinking “How could he possibly make it all the way around the world in a single night?” I didn’t realize at the time that not everyone in the world celebrated Christmas. I assumed he went across the entire world for every single kid. Granted I had a limited 5-year-old world view. I also thought that everyone’s family was exactly like mine, and that everyone’s Dad worked for General Motors.

I distinctly remember being with my mom and leaving my aunt and uncle’s house when I expressed my Santa theory to her. We were pulling out of their driveway, it was evening, the snow was lightly falling, and Christmas lights were on everyone’s houses. I said “Mom, is there really a Santa? How can he make it all the way around the world with all of those presents in one night?” Mom sighed and dropped the biggest bomb on me that completely rocked my world. She said “Honey, you’re right. There is no such thing as Santa.” I knew it! I had been validated. I wasn’t upset. I think I was just happy that my little brain was able to use logic and reason and be correct. However, I was not prepared for what she said next. “Also, there is no such thing as The Easter Bunny or The Tooth Fairy.” I was in shock! I had spent so much time dwelling on this Santa business that I didn’t even consider those other 2 mythological creatures.

I can honestly say that I was sad that there wasn’t a Tooth Fairy, or Easter Bunny. If she hadn’t told me that I would’ve kept on believing in them. I’m sure that after the Santa confirmation, the next time a tooth fell out of my head, or I had an Easter basket full of candy I would have started questioning. That was a huge amount of information to take in within the span of about 2 minutes.

We drove home in the snow in complete silence.