(Caution: Not all material suited for young children.)
I was nine or ten years old when this picture was taken...
Our family was assigned to the U.S. Naval Communications Station San Miguel.
Yup. We lived in the Philippines...and this would turn out to be a big day.
But I'll get back to that in just a minute.
------------------------
Several months ago, Sugar began asking questions.
Nothing crazy.
Completely innocent.
Curious questions.
I noticed that her questions were increasing in frequency, so thought it might be time for her and I to have a little chat. She's right smack between 9 and 10 years old.
A lot happens in a girl's life during the next couple years.
So...we spent a night away in a hotel room.
Just the two of us.
I wanted her to feel comfortable.
I didn't want her to worry about being interrupted or embarrassed
by having little sisters and her dad around.
We shared some gluten-free chocolate cake, and watched a movie.
We talked about school and friends and homework.
Then we read through some parts of a little book together.
We went to breakfast the next morning, and even ran into
another T1 pumper in the lobby!
------------------------
Now...
Back to that picture.
Anyway, like I said, I was nine or ten there.
(Just about the same age that Sugar is now.)
On that day, our family was going to have Breakfast With Santa!
I waited my turn patiently.
There were butterflies in my stomach.
I worried for a minute that I wouldn't make the Nice List.
(I was hoping for a dollhouse.)
And then I saw it.
Why would Santa be wearing my father's college ring?
I looked him straight in the eye.
"Daddy?"
By then my mother frantically pulled me off his lap, and hurried me out to the parking lot.
I was crying...sobbing, in fact.
My mother was trying her best to console me without creating more of a scene.
She gently told me the truth about Santa.
I was shocked, numb, and disappointed.
But I pulled myself together, went back inside, and played along...
didn't want to ruin the fun for all the other kids.
------------------------
By now I'm sure you're wondering how, on earth, these two stories
could possibly intertwine.
And I'm about to tell you.
During our night away, I wanted to impress on Sugar that she could always
come to me with questions and trust that she would get answers she could depend on.
"The world is going to tell you many things about your body. You may see things on TV or hear people talk about things you don't understand. I want you to know that you can ALWAYS come to me, and I will ALWAYS tell you the truth. You never need to worry or wonder about anything you may feel confused about."
With that, we started packing up our suitcase.
About ten minutes went by...
"Mommy? You said I could ask you anything, and you'll tell me the truth."
"Yes, Honey?"
"Is Santa real?"
(2).png)
Okay, so #1, you had THE TALK with her,right? I need to do this for my older daughter, she just turned 10 and is getting more and more hormonal and weird everyday, I have been planning on some kind of "date night" talk with her in January, I need a book, gonna check out your link. I LOVE that you made it special by taking her out to the hotel and all that. (I got my monthly visit while I was at school, at 5th grade in Guam and my mom came and got me,took me to the PX on base, bought me a purse, high heels, and pads, then out to McDonalds for the talk, the shopping was good, the McDonalds, not so good, LOL)
ReplyDelete#2 My dad played Santa at a ship Christmas party once and I yelled out for everyone "You're not the REAL Santa, you are my dad!" Same,Same. :-)
#3 I think my girls 10 and 8 are onto the whole Santa thing, but kind of flip flopping, they haven't asked questions very much yet...my 5yo absolutlely believes and he is really into the Christmas spirit this year, I am loving it, although we have seen Santa about 3 times already and will see him at least 2 more times, he knows that those are Santa helpers, LOL
Merry Christmas to you all!
You are such a good mom. I love that you went on a chocolate cake hotel getaway!
ReplyDeleteLovely story! My oldest son figured out what was going on with the tooth fairy. I was upfront and confessed that I was indeed the tooth fairy. Later that same year he came to me and said, "Mom, is Santa related to the tooth fairy?" Kids you gotta love me. :)
ReplyDeleteI had the biggest smile on my face after reading this. Just had to tell you...
ReplyDeleteWhat did you say?? I usually respond with, "What do you think?" and then she usually dives into some craziness about this or that and then I say, "Yeah - that's good thinking" and it usually buys me another year. Ella is a sucker, though. I joke that she lives in a world of rainbows & unicorns. What a beatiful world that must be.
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! This made me smile & YOU ROCK!
ReplyDeleteMy bro and SIL meant to tell my youngest nephew (7yrs) this year since he is the only one of the ten cousins that still believes and they wanted to be the one to tell him (and not hear at school or anything like that).
ReplyDeleteThen it got to be November and the decorations started going up. He LOVES Christmas - lights, carols, cookies, EVERY tradition. So we gave it one more year, and they will probably tell him this summer.
As for the "other" talk, I'm not ready for these little girls to be growing up!