Punchline
The magic of Christmas and Santa
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
I believe I was six years old when I first encountered and discovered the “magic” of Santa Claus, he who gifted me with toys that I remembered seeing displayed in department stores. It was Christmas Eve in the early 50s.
And frankly today, I rue that day I decided I wanted to outsmart Santa, catching him in the act of delivering the toys for me and my sisters. It proved to be my first humbling tough lesson in faith and obedience that I would not soon forget. What I did wrong was to plot to be the first kid in the house to ever see and meet Santa Claus. It was meant to be my first irrefutable bragging right of my life.
If perhaps I had not been so foolish, I would have continued to savor and enjoy the magic of Christmas for at least two more Christmases instead of being rushed into a boring life of adulthood at 6.
But I was stupid and silly for a boy of 6.
And so on Christmas Eve, just as I had expected, my sisters and I were bundled up to sleep early to allow Santa to breeze through the night with our gifts. We were warned that Santa would only bring gifts to children who were obedient and slept tightly on Christmas Eve thinking about Baby Jesus. Impressionable as I was, I believed that my parents knew Santa and had an understanding about his policy…no sleep, no toy. (Today that sounds like – No ID, no entry).
So, I feigned sleeping as I waited for some ruckus or sign that Santa had arrived sliding down an imaginary chimney in the house. (Yes, I chose a spot in the living room where the chimney would suddenly appear and where Santa would be sliding down with his big bag full of toys).
True enough, I soon heard hushed frantic movements by the living room. It was the signal I was waiting for. I crept out of bed slowly and peered through the door. There was no chimney, no stout and burly old bearded man in a red hat and funny clothes in the living room, no one but my parents standing by the tree where gifts that were not there during dinner were spread out.
That was really a quick trip by Santa to the house, I thought.
But just as I was about to return to bed, I saw my father bringing out another gift. I heard him say it was for one of my sisters…and described what it was, and where he bought all the gifts.
So Santa never came. I was disappointed to hear that it was my Dad who brought those gifts, not Santa. The magic vanished…and I thought I lost my childhood.
Little did I know that I would relive the magic of Christmas and Santa when Karina, my first child, came to life. I kept the magic working until it was Patrick’s turn…then Karmina’s. It had been sheer joy seeing the magic play out in my children’s eyes.
It was only then when I began to understand what the magic of Christmas and Santa is all about – manifestation of a parent’s unconditional love for their children through an image that a child readily accepts. While some would hasten to condemn the “magic” as a form of deception to children about life, I say that a magical Christmas depicts in more ways the bonding that was shared by the Holy Family in Bethlehem, no matter how shortlived.
I believe today that this is certainly one magical life that every child must be made to experience at least before they reach the age of 6 (by my standard, that is).
I wish you all a magical Christmas!
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