Santa, Maybe

I am going to go ahead and blame Lee for tonight's post. This is also the year for us, when we have to start figuring out what to say to the kid about Santa Claus.

It's interesting, too, that here in Nicaragua there's probably more of an anti-Santa movement than in the U.S. Santa Claus doesn't actually make much sense in a Nicaraguan context, because the kids get their presents on Christmas Eve (sometimes from the Baby Jesus) -- so Santa's late to the party on many levels. The opposition comes from, on the one hand, fundamentalist Christian influences from North America, and on the other, anti-commercialism and opposition to uncritical adoption of North American culture. It seems in many ways quite similar to the anti-Halloween sentiments I've noticed, although not as intense.

But, we are from the United States, so Santa is part of our culture, albeit in varied ways. Quinn's love for the Baby Jesus is firmly in place, so I'm not too worried about Santa supplanting Jesus in the Christmas Story. Not this year, anyway.

So, I decided to tell Quinn the whole story. About a guy named Nicholas who loved the Baby Jesus and loved children, and made sure that poor children (not just children whose parents had enough money) could have a present to open on Christmas in memory of the gifts the Magi brought to Jesus. Who, years later, when people remembered his life, got upgraded to "Saint Nicholas." And who inspired people to make sure that poor children would have presents on Christmas, so they left them labeled "from Saint Nicholas." I glossed over the languages the name went through, and said that it was the children, who sometimes make up their own way to say things, who changed it to "Santa Claus."

She liked the story, and asks to hear it again pretty regularly. Her first question was whether or not we have enough money to buy her presents. She also made up her own story, where Santa Claus "picks the flowers and leaves." But I think she has picked up on a lot of Santa stuff from school, movies, etc., because she said very decidedly that she wanted to get a present from Santa. So, we made a deal. If she can read "Santa Claus" by Christmas, she can get one present that is from Santa Claus. (I think she may be reading "Claus" for everything that starts with C for a while...) We're also watching a lot of Christmas movies to get in the mood (and because she's on vacation from school), so further Santa inculcation is inevitable.

It's also interesting timing because her imagination has just recently taken off. She makes up stories (and words, too, which can be confusing) all the time now. So she is in just the right place to be compelled by the magic of a new imaginary scheme, and already has the capacity to play along. And with her, we get to "play" a little more as well. We are so lucky.