How exciting! My Dad just sent me this picture of himself in his new Santa suit. He's gone professional this year and is the resident Santa at a Sydney Shopping Centre (as opposed to his usual seasonal gig of making a guest appearance at our little Mothers' Group Christmas Party!).
Santa has also promised to pop in to our Preschool Christmas party in a couple of week time. The only thing is, do I tell Livvie (5 years old) that her Poppy is dressing up as Santa (because it is highly likely she will recognise him... Last year, when he appeared in his {considerably less fancy} Santa suit on Christmas morning, she looked at him closely and was rather perplexed, asking ~ and I quote; 'Is that Poppy in there?').
Or do I simply brush off any remarks that it might be Poppy by saying, 'Of course it's not... It's Santa!'. This new costume looks pretty convincing (especially compared to the last one, sorry Dad!) And Livvie pretty much believes everything I say ~ Honestly, I am prepared to lie in this instance, for the sake of a magical (albeit mildly suspicious, on her part) Christmas.
I think the fact she will be in party mode with 20 classmates (and their siblings!) and caught up in the moment of Santa arriving amid much bell ringing, horn tooting and the general woops of joy from kids, she will want to believe it really IS Santa!
Another thing...Poppy usually drives a white 1938 Packard. For the party, he will be arriving in his friend Wade's red 1937 Packard...
I wonder if she will see the vintage car and draw the connection to Poppy?Hmm... what should I do? Do I tell her it is Poppy dressed up (she does understand people dress up in costumes for parties/halloween but then she misses out on the magic behind Santa's visit that day and I might have some explaining to do about the shopping centre Santa's who she believes are real too).... or cross my fingers and hope she doesn't recognise him (and if she does, lie to her). Yikes, that sounds bad! But this is Christmas... and she is only five years old... Please comment or email me your opinion!
(Also Dad, I think you need to find a way to get your wedding band off... that aroused the most suspicion last year.... 'He even had the same ring as Poppy!')
4 comments:
Just a thought... I told J and H early on that shopping centre Santas were all helpers and not the real one, because the real one only comes out on Christmas eve (the shopper centre ones all look different and some not very nice indeed, so I felt overall it ruined the consistency of the Santa image).I told them he does ask lots of special helpers to spread the joy and message of Christmas, to show others that we should give to those in need. The boys are still very excited and he is still very special to them and they are more in tune with the whole giving rather than receiving thing. So...I think on one hand you could tell the girls and they would feel so proud that their Poppy was a special Santa helper (and it could be their own secret too) or you could not tell them and keep them at arms length, which may be tricky, but either way it will be a magical day for them! Goodluck.
We have been having similar issues! My father-in-law would make a brilliant Santa and he has been asked to play the role at Pippa's preschool Christmas party in a week or two. I am pretty confident that she would recognise him (and even more confident that her big sister would) so have had lots of discussions about Santa needing lots of helpers at this busy time. Closer to the event, I think we will explain that Grandpa has been chosen to be one of those helpers for her party. I am not sure how this will go but I would like to have a conversation about her keeping it to herself that Santa is her Grandpa! I may be wrong but think she will be very excited knowing that Grandpa is so important, possibly more excited than if it was just Santa.
I am sure there is no right or wrong way to manage your dilemma. I would just worry that if a child were not included in this "special secret" and then worked it out on the day, it would put the whole Santa idea up to question and just stress the trust between you and your child.
I would love to hear what you decide and how it all went. I am pretty sure it will be a great day what ever you decide to do!
I agree with Mini Mocha. Miss E just peeked over my shoulder while I was reading this post and asked if that was the real Santa, and was that picture taken at his house? Haha So I just told her that's one of Santa's helpers, like at the stores. She was totally fine with it and completely believes in Santa.
Plus, I bet Livvie would think it completely cool that HER Poppy is one of Santa's helpers!
My Dad volunteered to arrive as Snoopy at a Christmas party when I was 5 (I think). Apparently, I told him that my Dad has the same shoes as him....carried on my merry way after my visit with Santa :-)
I'm glad that it all worked out well for you, Santa & Livvy!
V in V
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