So several months ago (yes, in early October), Costco began showing Christmas inventory. Ribbons, bows, wrapping paper, light wrapped reindeer...oh my...where the heck were the pumpkins, witches and huge bags of Halloween candy??
Cole and I meandered around because he was already counting down the days until Christmas. I knew that this year would be the first year that he was truly aware and excited about Santa's arrival. He was asking a lot of questions about how Santa would know that we wouldn't be at our house this year but at Gigi and PopPop's. Did Gigi and PopPop have a chimney? He inquired how Santa would know that he wanted the Tonka Concrete Mixer Truck that he was admiring as we walked through the toy section and how would Santa know that he had to come to Costco to get it?
Every subsequent trip we made to Costco in October and November, Cole wanted to rush over to see if the Concrete Mixer was still there. There were fewer and fewer each visit and he was worried that there wouldn't be any left for Santa, since it was still a "long long time" until Christmas. I did my best to assuage his concern saying that Santa had elves that shopped early. We had also written Santa a letter just after Halloween (I just couldn't do it before then)to let him know that he wanted the Concrete Mixer.
Then Cole went to the Monster Truck Jam with Dave in mid-November and Cole's interest turned a 180 degrees. Everything was about Monster Trucks; Blue Thunder was his favorite but Captain's Curse and Grave Digger were close behind. He wanted a Monster Truck birthday cake/party theme. He talked EVERYDAY about crushing cars, vrooming his three small scale monster trucks all around the house. Then one day, he said, "mom, I want a BIG BLUE THUNDER monster truck for Christmas, I don't want the concrete mixer anymore" I said, well, we already wrote to Santa so we need to let him know that you changed your mind. I knew that we were going to see Santa after Thanksgiving at Tonkadale Nursery as he only visited two days there so you can tell him then!
The past three years, Cole had cowered and buried himself in my lap as we approached Santa. I thought briefly that maybe this year things would be different but alas he froze and refused to look at Santa, he mumbled his wishes with much prompting but another year, another shy little boy...who can really blame him? We ask a lot of kids as we teach them to be wary of strangers and yet we expect them to easily embrace a man with a beard and funny clothes who comes around once a year.
It got me thinking...maybe rather than Christmas arriving earlier and earlier every year over saturating us with holiday "cheer" before we have even enjoyed a Kit Kat, Whoppers or Snickers Bar, we need to get back to the basics and bring back the "magic" of Christmas, letting children "believe" in something much bigger than themselves, letting their imaginations create the joy and excitement that I remember feeling on Christmas morning...rather than diluting the "wonder" by having a holiday season that is 3 months in the making...
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