Why I Need Santa to Suck

Christmas morning 1991. No snow. It's North Carolina. No smell of a tree. Ours is fake. There IS the smell of coffee and a fresh lit cigarette though!  Santa's already been here and I'm about to see what an awesome kid I have been all year!

I remember walking into the living room and there it all sat.  So many brand new Crayola boxes of markers and crayons and paint. Name brand!!! Not the super waxy crayons! Cabbage patch dolls with their very own birth certificate and Barbies that actually had elbows unlike the stiff armed ones from the discount store!  Santa. Was. Awesome. 

That's not a wig. I had woman hair by the time I was 5!

I knew good and well my parents wouldn't spend money on that name brand stuff!  Only Santa could afford that!  Not that they didn't have it. I don't know. They didn't let me in on finances at age 7. But we had Ross blood running through our veins which meant if we didn't need it or it was expensive it wasn't going to be ours. But not Santa! Nope! He wasn't a Ross and he didn't care about price! He brought us the good stuff!

Now it's 2016. 25 years later. Im the adult now. And Santa isn't gonna steal my glory ANYMORE!!  Those gifts aren't from him! I need a thank you and you need to tell me how much more you love me since I bought you nice things.  And tell me I'm pretty while you're at it!
 



But for 2015 we tried something new. We decided to do less Santa. He brought the trampoline and some toys. But instead of him bringing ALL the fun stuff I wrapped good stuff from us!  Not just clothes and socks.  I was a nervous wreck for weeks. So worried the kids would be disappointed Christmas morning when they walked in the living room and there was a lot less. Not crayola and cabbage patch galore like all the years before. But guess what?  It never even phased them. Not for a second!  And guess who got the credit for the awesome new blue ray players (thanks Black Friday deals) or the fun games they got? That's right. Not the fat guy!  It was me and the husband. And we smiled like monkeys and enjoyed the fact we had just bought their love.


Do they look sad?

Santa is the same in the eyes of every child. He's a magical person that brings happiness and gifts to Christmas. If my kids got markers and paper for Christmas and one of their friends got an Xbox, new bike, iPod and Beats that doesn't make much sense to kids. To adults it does. It's as simple as the fact they spent more money on their kids than we spent on ours. But as kids it looks like Santa possibly liked them better. Or makes them wonder if they did something to not deserve those kinds of things. Let Santa have a little glory but not all of it. 

No one will ever be financially equal with everyone else. I'm very okay with that.  Before you say "Everyone can't get a trophy" I agree.  I am in no way saying that all kids should get the same things or same amount.  But think of when you were a kid for a minute.  When finances and house size and bills meant nothing.  And Santa meant everything... 

So let those pricey gifts come from you. The hard working parent that put a lot of effort forth to provide for the family. Let Santa be more simple.

And finally, a big thanks to my Mama and Daddy.  You always made my Christmas everything I could ever want.