Santa Claus / Father Christmas: The Magic Of The Holiday

[Lobeydosser]

Father Christmas is actually Odin.

I've heard that before as well as links to the Green Knight , Wild hunt etc - oh and the important detail I left out - the sweets were a packets of Revels, which I liked except for the nutty ones which I sucked the chocolate of and threw the nut away.
I still do something similar with Walnut whips - and getting the ones without the Walnuts now ruins the experience somehow

 

[Trevp666]

 

[catseye]

I don't remember ever believing in Father Christmas. I don't really think my children did either, probably because none of them EVER SLEPT (a couple have been subsequently diagnosed ADD and ADHD, which probably didn't help). Which meant that all these lovely antics with footprints and mince pies with toothmarks in and all that were useless. From the age of about three my kids could all stay awake longer than i could (as a single mum of five, I needed my sleep!). I remember one particular Christmas, it was very very windy on Christmas Eve and the house was booming and shaking in the gusts. The children couldn't sleep, I needed to put their stockings on the ends of their beds but it got to two a m and everyone was still wide awake whilst I was DROPPING with tiredness.

I think I tiptoed along the landing and left their stockings outside their doors and then fell into bed fully clothed with the dog. As you can imagine, the following Christmas day was somewhat short tempered and scratchy on all sides!

It was lovely and I do miss it a little, but five children all over-hyped and an exhausted and extremely poor mother struggling even to put food on the table, didn't make for much magic really. It's better nowadays, they are all adults but I have sufficient funds to buy them some nice things for Christmas and we all contribute to the buying and cooking of Christmas dinner. It's a lovely 'get together' day, with riotous rude card games and way too much food, which suits me better than sleep deprivation, cheap plastic and horrible fights.

 

[Kondoru]

Yes, odd that.

Santa only visits rich families.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Whats an elf on the shelf?

An elf that never got married, sadly.

 

[escargot]

My friends made a cardboard cut-out of a large shoe sole, then after their son had gone to bed, used it as a mask to create a series of footsteps from their fireplace (real fire!) to the Christmas tree by sprinkling 'snow' over the cut-out (I think they used flour).

No they didn't. That was Father Christmas.

 

[escargot]

Ah, I still do that for my boy Scargy. Since the tree and decs have gone up, he comes down each morning to find the Elf has moved to another part of the tree. Yesterday morning he came down and shouted that the Elf has gone. Look on the hallway mat I shouted back. He did, and there it was. His letter from Father Christmas, telling him that he will be getting presents on Christmas morning.

I packed him off to school a very happy boy. His school bag in one hand and his letter from Father Christmas in the other, all to show his little school mates.

In fact, I’m going to have to make this one of the last years with the Santa letter…………….otherwise he’s gonna get the shit kicked out of him in a few years’ time.

Yup, Niece's kid was having doubts and asked Alexa about the Elves.
Fortunately Alexa had Niece's back.

 

[escargot]

One of my kids came to me at age 8 or whatever asking me seriously about Father Christmas.

He laid out the evidence - inadequate flue access, parental handwriting on gift tags, bestowal of gifts even on known Naughty List constituents, etc - and I came clean.

I have a rule of never lying to children, to which Santa and Tooth Fairy are honourable exceptions. Kids rumble the parents in their own time and it's one of a few big lessons in life that are safe to learn.

So said yeah, it's all us adults really. But don't tell Escette (4 year-old sister) because she still believes in it all.
He agreed and went on his way, and immediately grassed me up to Escette, and THEY kept THAT secret from ME until they were adults.

 

[Trevp666]

WARNING - old joke ahead.

Unfortunately for Santa, he has no children of his own. Because he only comes once a year, and that's down the chimney!