![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The REAL Meaning of Christmas - Essay
Jun. 12th, 2004 08:26 pmToday's writing prompt -
Capture the child inside by recalling some of the colorful images you once associated with the idea of Santa Claus.
Ahem. I can give it a shot, but I don't think it will be pretty. Give me a second..
My mom obviously didn't believe in indulging childhood fantasies because when I was very young (maybe 3 or 4) she explained that Santa wasn't real. That the men dressed up in red suits were really just ordinary people pretending to be Santa and not his helpers at all. I apparently had wondered how Santa could be at the Westroads Mall and at the Crossroads Mall at the same time. We had just left one to go to the other and I guess it frazzled my poor little girl brain as to how he could have beaten us there when we had obviously left before he had.
In such blunt and brutal honesty she systematically destroyed all of my childhood illusions from the Easter Bunny to the Tooth Fairy until there was nothing left for me to believe or hope in. On one hand I can understand why she would not want to lie to her children. On the other hand I feel that I was deprived of some sort of essential kid's experience.
What harm would it have done for a little girl to believe, even temporarily, that there really was a Santa? What harm was there in fantasizing about a big pink bunny that delivered colorful Easter eggs? In her own way she aided me unwittingly in becoming the cynical individual I am today. Spirit of Christmas, I scoff. Who needs it?
But still I'm sure if I try hard enough I can come up with some colorful images. I'm not saying they'll be happy go lucky. More likely they will be sour and full of misplaced anger or maybe jealousy.
So here goes!
The REAL Meaning of Christmas A semi-sarcastic essay/journal entry by yellowhorde
Santa Claus was a crazy man dressed in red and white from head to toe with a long scraggly beard. Why was he crazy, you may ask? He'd have to be to put up with lines and lines of squirming, obnoxious little kids waiting either with excitement or trepidation to sit on his lap. Listening to a thousand tiny voices either crying in fear or eagerly whispering all their holiday fantasies of toys wrapped in bright colors and gay ribbons amassed under the poor dead corpse of a pine tree, swathed in blinking lights, baubles, and tons of shredded tinsel - a once living organism cut down for sheer pleasure of indulging in some pointless tradition.
Here's my bit of unsolicited advice - GET AN ARTIFICIAL TREE, PEOPLE! JEEZ!
Santa is an escape goat/dangling carrot for many parents. If a child didn't get the present he/she wanted, blame it on Santa! Maybe he forgot, maybe he didn't get that long, detailed list of exactly what the child wanted. (My youngest sister wrote such a list but, of course, it wasn't for Santa because she knows better. Mom is Santa so it's best to direct all lists of toys, music, etc. to her and her alone. I've seen that list and my God, the girl can't spell!) Maybe he didn't think or believe for even a moment that said child was the little cherub they pretended to be for the last 31/2 weeks. Maybe he knows better. Tough luck, kiddo, maybe you'll have better luck next year.
Yeah, right.
How many times have you witnessed this scene? And don't lie, cause I know you have. It's a growing phenomenon in our nation of greed and commercialism. Picture this is you will (or if you can stand to relive the horror) You're at the mall fighting the vast and, often times, rude hordes of shoppers who are also looking for that perfect gift for that certain special someone. You are just about having a claustrophobic fit because there is little or no elbowroom - even less if you have the misfortune of being stuck in a toy store. And then you hear it - not for the first time and most certainly not the last time - some frustrated parent telling their screaming, red faced little monster that if they weren't good, if they didn't behave (read shut up and stop making a scene in public) then Santa wouldn't give them any toys? Or worse, they would find nothing in their stockings Christmas morning except for lumps of coal.
Just curious, but has anyone EVER scene this ploy work? I never have. If anything, it makes the child scream and yell even louder. It makes me glad that I'm not a parent. Why put yourself through that sort of nonsense? Why not just leave the child at home when you go Christmas shopping? It makes sense, and of course, because it does, most parents have never even considered such a possibility. Go figure.
Santa brings gift to all the good little boys and girls of the world. UH- HUN. What if you don't have a chimney, you child innocently wonders. How can he deliver all the toys in just one night? You have to give your children some credit. They have more sense and a better grasp at logic than we usually give them credit for.
What really blasts my mind is the vast and intricate lies parents will tell their children in order to sustain the myth of Santa Claus. He lives in the North Pole. He has eight magical, not to mention flying and time defying, reindeer who pull him around the world on just one night every year. He knows if you've been naughty or nice. He has all of these little elves to help him make his toys - never mind that many toys say 'Made In Taiwan' on the bottom. Try explaining that one, parents. And you'd be amazed what other sort of stuff they will come up with. It boggles the mind. And who says that kids have the better imagination? I'll put my money on the adult any time.
Despite everything, it is my own sarcastic/cynical nature that leads me to believe in one heart wrenching truth. Belief in Santa is a luxury that only the well to do can sustain for any real length of time. While the belief that some jolly, kind hearted fat man goes out of his way to make and deliver toys to 'all the good boys and girls of the world', the truth is simply not so nice.
What do you tell the little girl whose parents can't afford to pay their rent let alone buy Christmas toys? Santa won't be visiting her home trailing gifts and goodies in his wake. Does that mean that she was naughty? Does that mean that she is less deserving of a toy to love and cherish? No. It simply means that life can be cruel. That sometimes reality is a cold thing that must be faced even if it means shelving age-old beliefs and childhood fantasies in the face of that reality.
For thousands of children this means that they are striped of a certain amount of innocence, of some fundamental belief in the impossible. Real life has a way of stepping in and giving even the most innocent a sharp reality slap. There is no denying the sting of that slap. Does it make it right? Acceptable? I don't know and I'm not one to decide. Children need to believe, if even for a short time, in their childhood fantasies even if they are blown up to such proportions as Santa Claus.
Even though I am one of the most cynical people I know, I am glad that for those children who are less fortunate, there is a little hope. Charities like Toys for Tots and many others give these children a chance to believe that there is a Santa, that there is hope out there. In these cases, the real Santas are the nameless individuals who take time out of their busy schedule and even busier lives to give the gift of hope and joy to a child in need. To give new toys to kids who would have had to do without.
THAT is the real meaning of Christmas. THAT is what it should be all about.
Capture the child inside by recalling some of the colorful images you once associated with the idea of Santa Claus.
Ahem. I can give it a shot, but I don't think it will be pretty. Give me a second..
My mom obviously didn't believe in indulging childhood fantasies because when I was very young (maybe 3 or 4) she explained that Santa wasn't real. That the men dressed up in red suits were really just ordinary people pretending to be Santa and not his helpers at all. I apparently had wondered how Santa could be at the Westroads Mall and at the Crossroads Mall at the same time. We had just left one to go to the other and I guess it frazzled my poor little girl brain as to how he could have beaten us there when we had obviously left before he had.
In such blunt and brutal honesty she systematically destroyed all of my childhood illusions from the Easter Bunny to the Tooth Fairy until there was nothing left for me to believe or hope in. On one hand I can understand why she would not want to lie to her children. On the other hand I feel that I was deprived of some sort of essential kid's experience.
What harm would it have done for a little girl to believe, even temporarily, that there really was a Santa? What harm was there in fantasizing about a big pink bunny that delivered colorful Easter eggs? In her own way she aided me unwittingly in becoming the cynical individual I am today. Spirit of Christmas, I scoff. Who needs it?
But still I'm sure if I try hard enough I can come up with some colorful images. I'm not saying they'll be happy go lucky. More likely they will be sour and full of misplaced anger or maybe jealousy.
So here goes!
The REAL Meaning of Christmas A semi-sarcastic essay/journal entry by yellowhorde
Santa Claus was a crazy man dressed in red and white from head to toe with a long scraggly beard. Why was he crazy, you may ask? He'd have to be to put up with lines and lines of squirming, obnoxious little kids waiting either with excitement or trepidation to sit on his lap. Listening to a thousand tiny voices either crying in fear or eagerly whispering all their holiday fantasies of toys wrapped in bright colors and gay ribbons amassed under the poor dead corpse of a pine tree, swathed in blinking lights, baubles, and tons of shredded tinsel - a once living organism cut down for sheer pleasure of indulging in some pointless tradition.
Here's my bit of unsolicited advice - GET AN ARTIFICIAL TREE, PEOPLE! JEEZ!
Santa is an escape goat/dangling carrot for many parents. If a child didn't get the present he/she wanted, blame it on Santa! Maybe he forgot, maybe he didn't get that long, detailed list of exactly what the child wanted. (My youngest sister wrote such a list but, of course, it wasn't for Santa because she knows better. Mom is Santa so it's best to direct all lists of toys, music, etc. to her and her alone. I've seen that list and my God, the girl can't spell!) Maybe he didn't think or believe for even a moment that said child was the little cherub they pretended to be for the last 31/2 weeks. Maybe he knows better. Tough luck, kiddo, maybe you'll have better luck next year.
Yeah, right.
How many times have you witnessed this scene? And don't lie, cause I know you have. It's a growing phenomenon in our nation of greed and commercialism. Picture this is you will (or if you can stand to relive the horror) You're at the mall fighting the vast and, often times, rude hordes of shoppers who are also looking for that perfect gift for that certain special someone. You are just about having a claustrophobic fit because there is little or no elbowroom - even less if you have the misfortune of being stuck in a toy store. And then you hear it - not for the first time and most certainly not the last time - some frustrated parent telling their screaming, red faced little monster that if they weren't good, if they didn't behave (read shut up and stop making a scene in public) then Santa wouldn't give them any toys? Or worse, they would find nothing in their stockings Christmas morning except for lumps of coal.
Just curious, but has anyone EVER scene this ploy work? I never have. If anything, it makes the child scream and yell even louder. It makes me glad that I'm not a parent. Why put yourself through that sort of nonsense? Why not just leave the child at home when you go Christmas shopping? It makes sense, and of course, because it does, most parents have never even considered such a possibility. Go figure.
Santa brings gift to all the good little boys and girls of the world. UH- HUN. What if you don't have a chimney, you child innocently wonders. How can he deliver all the toys in just one night? You have to give your children some credit. They have more sense and a better grasp at logic than we usually give them credit for.
What really blasts my mind is the vast and intricate lies parents will tell their children in order to sustain the myth of Santa Claus. He lives in the North Pole. He has eight magical, not to mention flying and time defying, reindeer who pull him around the world on just one night every year. He knows if you've been naughty or nice. He has all of these little elves to help him make his toys - never mind that many toys say 'Made In Taiwan' on the bottom. Try explaining that one, parents. And you'd be amazed what other sort of stuff they will come up with. It boggles the mind. And who says that kids have the better imagination? I'll put my money on the adult any time.
Despite everything, it is my own sarcastic/cynical nature that leads me to believe in one heart wrenching truth. Belief in Santa is a luxury that only the well to do can sustain for any real length of time. While the belief that some jolly, kind hearted fat man goes out of his way to make and deliver toys to 'all the good boys and girls of the world', the truth is simply not so nice.
What do you tell the little girl whose parents can't afford to pay their rent let alone buy Christmas toys? Santa won't be visiting her home trailing gifts and goodies in his wake. Does that mean that she was naughty? Does that mean that she is less deserving of a toy to love and cherish? No. It simply means that life can be cruel. That sometimes reality is a cold thing that must be faced even if it means shelving age-old beliefs and childhood fantasies in the face of that reality.
For thousands of children this means that they are striped of a certain amount of innocence, of some fundamental belief in the impossible. Real life has a way of stepping in and giving even the most innocent a sharp reality slap. There is no denying the sting of that slap. Does it make it right? Acceptable? I don't know and I'm not one to decide. Children need to believe, if even for a short time, in their childhood fantasies even if they are blown up to such proportions as Santa Claus.
Even though I am one of the most cynical people I know, I am glad that for those children who are less fortunate, there is a little hope. Charities like Toys for Tots and many others give these children a chance to believe that there is a Santa, that there is hope out there. In these cases, the real Santas are the nameless individuals who take time out of their busy schedule and even busier lives to give the gift of hope and joy to a child in need. To give new toys to kids who would have had to do without.
THAT is the real meaning of Christmas. THAT is what it should be all about.
