Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Scholastic. All opinions are my own.
I knew it was on the horizon. My daughter had started fifth grade, which is middle school in our district, and was taking the school bus for the first time. Just when the leaves had started to change, the question I was dreading came out. She asked about Santa. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been, but we did have a good discussion, and she completely agreed to keep the magic going for her younger brother and her cousins.
I felt much more prepared for having that discussion with my son, but as typical with parenting, it didn’t go as expected. We were on vacation in Italy when my daughter came racing into our adjoining hotel room. My son had asked her, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. We told her to tell him, and then they came into our hotel room and we discussed it.
I definitely wasn’t as fully prepared for either of these conversations, and I should have been. In retrospect, it made sense that my son would ask his sister, so we should have prepared her.
Based on a letter written by author Martha Brockenbrough and published by the New York Times, Love, Santa is a great book for explaining the magic and truth of Santa. It’s a beautiful book, filled with vibrant illustrations and actual envelopes with letters. It would be great to read with your child when the time comes, because it explains the magic of Santa with gentle language, and still keeps some of the magic alive. Here’s more info about the book:
Love, Santa
By Martha Brockenbrough
Illustrated by Lee White
In Stores Now! Released September 26, 2017
For Parents and Kids ages 6-11 (for telling the truth about Santa)
Official synopsis:
In a series of letters, a young girl writes to Santa to ask about the North Pole, Mrs. Claus, and of course, Christmas goodies. Year after year, Santa writes back, and a heartwarming relationship develops, until one year, the girl writes to her mother instead: Mom, are you Santa? Her mother responds to say that no, she is not Santa. Because Santa is bigger than any one person — we bring him out through kindness to one another and the power of imagination. This transformative tale spins a universal childhood experience into a story about love, giving, and the spirit of Christmas.
Learn more about the book on Scholastic.com
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