We’re down to just one Santa believer in the house, and it’s a little sad, but okay too. Gal Smiley was on the fence this year – last year, she asked me about it point blank, and we had The Talk about how Christmas is in All Of Us, but yes, Mommy and Daddy leave the presents. But then, this year, she was all INTO Santa, and I thought maybe she was in denial, or didn’t understand me, or whatever.
But then, last night:
Her: Mom, I finally decided what I want for Christmas!
Me: [internal dialogue: SNORT, I finished shopping three weeks ago kid, and nothing could get me to the mall this week, but WHATEVER.] Really?
Her: Yes! I will write it in a letter to Santa.
Me: Um…okay.
Her, very quietly: And then, I will show it to you so you will know.
Me, very quietly: Okay.
Her: Mom? Will you ever stop putting a present under the tree for me and writing “from Santa” on it?
Me: I can if you want me to.
Her: Oh.
Me: But if you want, I can always and forever put a present there and write “from Santa” on it.
Her, very very quietly: Yes, please.
I know what I’m getting for Christmas – my babies, always and forever. AWESOME.
TurtleHead 
My 11 year old son (who still believed last year at 10) wants me to wrap his presents in Santa paper and write from Santa. He said he just loves that paper. Sadly I think I only have enough left for this year.
So sweet! My eldest (just turned 10) has been asking whether Santa is real for a couple of years now, and I’ve been giving cagey answers until a few weeks ago, when I very gently had the talk with him. He was upset and seems to have decided to believe (or at least pretend to believe) for now.
My 7-year old is still totally on board. Last night, whenI trotted out the old “Be good, Santa is making his list!”, he stopped what he was doing and whispered to me very quietly, “I’ve been half good and half naughty.”
So sweet!
Our two boys (5 and 7) are still believers (I think), but they’re asking questions, too. Rather than be evasive, I just respond with more questions or conjectures, not confirming anything. It’s interesting, though – my older already totally sees through the whole tooth fairy thing. And adamantly doesn’t believe in God (even though we’ve been similarly evasive about that).
So sweet! You are right, having our babies now and forever is the magic of Christmas for every mom! (And you know how overgrown my “babies” are!)
*sob*
I’ll go along with the crowd… so sweet. Abby is 11 and I can’t tell if she really truly believes or just really truly wants to believe. I tried to broach the subject just to see where she was with everything, but it didn’t really clear anything up.
The same thing happened with my 9yo last year. She absolutely wanted to know the truth and so we told her, but then she decided she didn’t really want to know the truth after all. It’s like the whole conversation never happened so we get another year out of it.
So beautiful – I got a tear in my eye over this. My girl is 7 and I can feel it coming but I’m holding on as much as I can …