Christmas Magic
Nineteen days until Blake turns 6. His world is one of innocence, simplicity, and wonder. At this moment we find ourselves flying back home to Florida from Texas at 7pm on Christmas Eve. We woke up watching the news with updates of the NORAD tracker telling us Santa’s whereabouts. All he wanted to do was see Santa in the sky from the airplane. After all, this is a brilliant, and logical idea
I snapped this picture of him holding up his stuffy named “Snowy” that he gladly adopted from a souvenir shop on last year's snowboarding trip. I assumed he was showing Snowy the sparkling city lights of Dallas just after takeoff. But, then I heard these words…
“Mom, I’ve been waiting my whole life to see Santa.” Convinced since we are flying at the same time that Santa is delivering presents, he is certain to spot him in the sky. The magical man in his habitat doing what he does best, complete with a sleigh filled with toys pulled by make believe reindeer and Rudolph at the helm.
I can see it all in my head. I can feel the wonder, excitement and unbridled joy of his soft, sweet imaginative heart. In his world it all makes sense. And in my world, I want it all to make sense for him and to believe in the magic of Christmas even if I know as grown up it is impossible.
The pilot commented before takeoff he will inform the patrons aboard overhead (thanks American) when Santa pops onto the radar. All the kids headed to Orlando (always numerous when flying into MCO) squealed.
“Mom, we have to see him out the window.” My only explanation, trying to buffer him for realistic expectations is telling him the pilot may be able to see Santa from the front of the plane and we only have views from the side. He then just looks at me with complete logical reasoning and utters, “what if that row on the other side can see him out their window, and we can’t?”
I don’t get overly sentimental or try to keep my kids young.
Last year I thought they could handle the Easter Bunny not being real and, well that didn’t go over so well. The oldest was crushed. I tried not to chuckle as we discussed if he had ever seen a 6ft bunny hopping from yard to yard delivering eggs. That didn’t resonate as I expected it would.
I am helpless in this situation. I contemplated, do I look out the window as long as possible for something that resembles a flying vessel with light and wake him up and say, look, that’s Santa!? That didn’t seem right.
What I learned in this moment…belief and dreams go hand in hand. If you think it is possible, that possibility and passion may be enough to convince you to not stop believing, even if people tell you otherwise. To go for something others cannot rationalize, but in your mind it makes total sense. His plan was to stay up all night and stare at the night sky. A level of commitment and diligence that we all know is seemingly impossible for a not yet 6 year old. But, he had a plan. I et him run with his plan.
My problem solving approach told me to come up with a plan and course correction when he doesn’t see Santa. But I realized I did not need to save him from his dream…of a lifetime:)
What if no one told you you could not do something? What if it is totally on you to come up with the next step when the first plan doesn’t pan out? What would your mind tell you to do next? What would your resolve and solution be to still believe?
At the end of the night, after no Santa sighting, a sizable nap and drive home he decided to put himself to bed, forgo staying up all night because he knew Santa would not come if he did not sleep.
His belief in the magic of Santa is contingent on doing the things he knows to make it happen. To stay true to the plan. To accept that sometimes you do not get to see exactly what it is you envision happening, but keep believing in the possibility.
Maybe I am the adult who needed a lesson in life from my now 18 days away 6 year old!
Don’t give up on a dream that seems too big to be true! Don’t stop believing in the possibilities that are written on your heart and fuel your imagination. It will never look or pan out exactly as you expect it to, but it can still be magnificent, magical and attainable.
With that, enjoy the magic that is Christmas morning!