The other day, my friends and I were swapping Santa stories. Santa is a magical guy, but he can sure create a bit of stress for parents at times. Here are a few of my favorite Santa stories — in hindsight anyway.
This year, Jonah’s letter to Santa had been hanging out on the kitchen 
counter for several weeks. For a long time it wasn’t finished, and then we just hadn’t gotten around to taking it to the special Santa Mailbox at the Santa House in town. The other day, I noticed he had the letter in hand and was erasing part of it. Turns out he’d changed his mind on a couple of items just days from the big event. Calmly, I convinced him to go with his original selections and sealed the letter before anymore changes could be made.
One friend’s 5-year-old granddaughter had been told recently by a 5-year-old friend that there was no Santa. As luck would have it, my friend had arranged for Santa to visit their house the next night and the look on her granddaughter’s face was priceless when Santa walked through the door, she said. Any doubt was gone for sure.
A number of years ago, Adam asked a boy we carpooled with on the way to school if he believed in Santa. The boy said no. Surprised, Adam asked where all the presents came from and when the boy told him that parents give the presents, Adam laughed. “My parents would never get us all that stuff,” he said.
Another friend said that one year her son whispered in Santa’s ear what he wanted for Christmas. When she asked him what he had asked for, he replied, “You will see on Christmas morning.”
Despite the Christmas stress over the years, Santa lives on in our house. Merry Christmas to your family. May your day be filled with magic and happy memories.
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FranklyStein is a blog by Chesapeake Family Magazine editor Betsy Stein who lives in Catonsville with her husband, Chris, and four children, Maggie, 15, Lilly, 14, Adam, 14, and Jonah, 10.
