I Don’t Believe in Santa Claus But….

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For the first time since the year of our Lord 2002, Santa Claus is not coming to our house this Christmas. The hatchlings are all grown up so the Big Man is going to give chez Black a miss and leave it to their long suffering parents to ‘deliver the goods’ come the 25th. He will be missing out on his mince pie and glass of Diet Coke and Rudolph will have to go elsewhere for his carrot and bowl of water.

This hasn’t impacted, however, upon the current level of excitement in the house, especially amongst the girls. I have already sat through ‘The Christmas Chronicles’ with Kurt Russell four times, and the decorations went up well over a week ago. And are still going up. Despite Fionnuala’s insistence that this would be a more low key Christmas, every time I leave the house I return to find another wreath or set of lights in situ.

On Friday night, Rebecca and her friends went to their old school for the switching on of the Christmas tree lights. As self confessed ‘big girls’ at Junior High, they sniggered knowingly when informed that Santa Claus and his elves would be there for all the younger kids. They made me drop them off down the road from the school itself, to avoid the embarrassment of being dropped off by an adult human being.

The same applied to being picked up. They phoned through a rendezvous point where I waited patiently, until they graced me with their company. As they piled into the car, giggling and nattering, I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Both of them were clutching selection boxes, yet I knew there was no shop at the school and neither of them had any money on them. Hmmmmm….

Me: ‘Where did you get the selection boxes?’

Them: ‘Santa.’

Cue further giggling. It seemed that, despite their avowed intent to no longer write Father Christmas letters, they had no problem with playing along if there was free chocolate on the table. Twelve year old girls can be brutal. Oh, to have their moral compass, I mused, as they proceeded to demolish the contents of their dubiously acquired boxes in front of me. Santa Claus had been played, and I was an unwitting accomplice to this heinous crime.

Just as I was about to clamber upon my metaphorical high horse and deliver a lecture about integrity and values, I thought to myself – ‘They’re twelve year old girls. What’s your excuse?’ How many times had I said one thing, then acted in a way that suggested the complete opposite. I stick to my principles when it suits me, then chuck them out the window when I see an opportunity that addresses my own selfish needs.

Behaving in a consistent manner is hard work. I like to think I’m solid in that respect, but the truth is I can do so much better. It might not be chocolate boxes, but it’s so easy to rip up your belief system and chuck it in the bin when you’re faced with an easier option, a more tempting alternative. And before you know it, you are surrounded by empty wrappers and your face is smeared in tell tale chocolate.

Is Santa Claus coming to your house this Christmas?

When did you last say one thing and then did the complete opposite?

How do you stick to your beliefs and values?

Published by Fractured Faith Blog

We are Stephen and Fionnuala and this is our story. We live in Northern Ireland, have been married for 17 years and have three kids - Adam, Hannah and Rebecca. We hope that our story will inspire and encourage others. We have walked a rocky road yet here we are today, together and stronger than ever. We are far from perfect and our faith has been battered and bruised. But an untested faith is a pointless faith. Just as a fractured faith is better than none at all. We hope you enjoy the blog.

39 thoughts on “I Don’t Believe in Santa Claus But….”

  1. No more Santa! Nooooo!!! I will literally be devastated when T doesn’t believe any more! Well I say that now, do you feel the same now that has happened? Or do the older they get the more you prepare for this to happen?

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  3. Well, I’m 58 & my son is 25 & there’s no grandkids yet so Santa Claus is a thing of the past.

    My niece-in-law posted pics of taking her (adorable) daughter to see Santa at a cider mill (of all places) & that got me to thinking … it seems that Santa shows up everywhere & even the dumbest kid has got to figure out by the age of five that Santa CAN’T be in all those places at once.

    I just know my experience of being taken to see Santa when I was a kid … waiting in line forever … sitting on some dude’s lap … I remember clearly the smell of BO clinging to the cheap red velveteen. That’s when I knew that this guy wasn’t Santa Claus & my next thought was that maybe there wasn’t a Santa Claus at all. I remember that clearly.

    However, I have always held onto to the IDEA of Santa Claus. The basic concept of Santa. Which isn’t dependent on a real person at all.

    BTW, we never left cookies & milk for Santa at our house. We left beer & pretzels, because that’s what my Dad liked. Which says it all, doesn’t it.

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  4. Hes definitely coming!! There was a stocking for me by the fireplace last year, surely it could only have been ‘Santa’!! My 32 year old lad who has additional needs has decided that this year he doesnt want a stocking but hes ​still convinced that when he was 10 Rudolph poked his nose through the window and licked his face. Of course ​he has known for years who was putting the stocking there but Rudolph well….who knows.

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  5. OH NO!!!! Are you saying Santa Claus is a hoax? 😎My house is having a ‘minimalist’ Christmas this year. I pulled the pre-lit tree from the corner of the living room and set it front and center. Plugged in the lights and voila – Christmas. No decorations or garland, just colored lights.

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  12. To be honest, once the kids had children of their own we said, “No more Santa.” (The grandkids get birthday presents and have never received Christmas presents from us.) We don’t give gifts and do not want them unless they are small and hand made. Christmas is now a joy…the food, the lights, the cooking…the friends and family…the moments shared together, and none of it weighed down by materialism. It’s been fantastic.

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  16. Santa is alive and well over here in NJ. Yes I’m 36 but I still believe in the spirit of Santa and also Christmas angels and Christmas miracles. I love that some of my friends’ kids still believe. It just makes it much more magical and exciting. Yes I do sometimes say one thing and do another. But when it comes to chocolate I think it’s harmless really LOL

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