Did you know that December 9th is National Believe Day? It’s part of a campaign called the #SantaProject. Children and adults from around the country are declaring that they believe in Santa Claus. The mission of the campaign is to keep the story of Santa alive in our modern age by filling the internet with the magic of belief.
I love this time of year. The sights, sounds, smells (gingerbread cookies, real Christmas trees)… you name it, I love it.
A couple of weeks ago my husband and I were at a mall to see a movie. We have never been to that mall before, except to see another movie. We never walked around. Since we had time to kill we thought we’d stroll around and check it out.
As we were walking we saw the set up for photos with Santa. As we walked around the set up I saw Santa. He looked directly at me, gave me a big smile and waved. I may be a forty something year old, but having Santa smile at me the way he did really made my heart smile.
I still remember how anxious I felt Christmas Eve, lying in bed, desperately hoping to hear Santa’s sleigh on our roof top. I wanted to see if I could see the jolly old man himself in person. I never did catch him in the act.
Back in the day we didn’t have the opportunity to get our picture taken with Santa (where I lived growing up), but we did get to see him on the back of a fire truck each year. The fire department would drive him up and down the streets – stopping to greet children, talk to them and hand out candy canes and coloring books. I may be in my late 40’s, and I can barely remember what I had for breakfast let alone anything else, but I still have vivid memories of Santa on the back of the fire truck.
EVERY YEAR when we watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and we finally see Santa at the end of the parade I ALWAYS get teary eyed. I don’t know why. Just something about seeing him on his giant sled makes my heart explode with happiness and I develop “happy tears.” I have no doubt when I’m 60, 70, 80, and God willing 90+ I will still get “happy tears” when I see Santa at the end of the parade.
For Christmas I keep telling my kids the only present I want is a picture with them and Santa. I even tell my husband we (meaning him and I) should go and get our picture taken with him.
As a family, we love to track Santa or NORAD. We do it every year. Even my teens are into tracking Santa. All during the night we let each other know where Santa is so we can see when he’s coming to New York.
We also put out cookies, milk and treats for the reindeer every Christmas Eve night as we are heading off to bed. We take turns doing it because each of us wants to do it.
We don’t have a fireplace, so to make sure Santa gets into our home on Christmas Eve, we have a Santa Key. It’s a magical key that we hang on our front door before we got to bed on Christmas Eve so that Santa can let himself in when he arrives.
I always try and do nice things for others – even random strangers. I am a firm believer in Random Acts of Kindness and try and do things as often as I can whether it’s paying for the person’s coffee on line with me, holding a door open for someone, giving up my parking spot for someone else or helping an elderly neighbor take out the garbage.
There is something about the magic of the holidays that make me want to do more. My husband and I call it a “Secret Santa,” but it’s not the kind of Secret Santa most people think of.
One of the things we enjoy doing (if we have the funds to do so) is go to a local nursery that sells Christmas trees. We go in and give the lady at the cash register money to purchase a tree – but we don’t actually buy the tree. We tell them to use that money to pay for the tree for the next person that comes in. We don’t need to know the next person’s situation. We just hope it makes them smile and encourages them to “pay it forward” and do something nice for someone else. In a way we are paying homage to Santa by helping to bring the magic of the holiday to others.
There is a wonderful website and article that talks about how Santa is Real. The article highlights why belief is important. It also has some fun FAQ’s and more. It’s very interesting and it was fun to read. I think I’m even MORE into the holiday spirit after checking out the site.
Check out this brief video that explains why experts feel it’s important for children (and adults) to believe in Santa.
I love it! What a fantastic video. I also never really thought how important it was to believe.
I am grateful that my children – even at ages 17 and 19 – still believe in the IDEA of Santa, and that they still get giddy putting out the milk and cookies and hanging the Santa Key on the door.
What about YOU? Do YOU believe?
Feel free to share your thoughts. As always, I love to hear from readers. I would most especially love to hear your thoughts about this.
To see what others have to say check out the hashtag #SantaProject on social media.
Kimberly
*I have partnered with Macys to bring you this information. Although compensated the opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.