The Battle to Believe

– Posted in: Holidays, Movies, Things To Do with Kids, Websites, Worst Mom Reviews

We went to see Rise of the Guardians today. The odds were already heavily in favor of me crying because I cry at just about everything. But this had Christmas spirit, childhood dreams, and overcoming personal tragedy all wrapped up into ninety minutes, so I really didn’t stand a chance.

Later I heard the kids talking about how they were never not going to believe in Santa Claus, and how much they liked and believed in the Easter Bunny. My kids are 8 and 10, so I constantly feel like we’re nearing that point of the bubble popping. But they’re hanging in there — keeping the dreams alive and still hearing that bell from the Polar Express ringing loudly and clearly. They’re exactly what Rise of the Guardians was all about — fighting tooth and nail to hold onto the hope and magic that fends off the big, bad, real world.

And incredibly, I think this story gave them a ton of ammunition to keep doing just that. They’re old enough now that even magic has to have a certain level of intricacy and logic. So explanations like, “Santa just goes down everybody’s chimneys,” and “The Easter Bunny is really fast,” don’t cut it. They want details.

Pitch -- Rise of the Guardians

Not exactly warm and fuzzy

So for my kids, this movie worked. For younger ones, it might’ve scared the bejesus out of them. The villain — Pitch, aka the Boogie Man — puts nightmares into children’s heads. He also has these black horses made of sand that attack everything and are a teensy bit Lord-of-the-Rings intense.

But I did come across another Santa gimmick that could work for younger kids. The best part is that the least fancy-dancy, bells-and-whistles version is free! At Portable North Pole, you can customize a video tour of Santa’s workshop with photos and information about your child. If you’re a fan of letting your kid in on the more tangible aspects of what Santa may be like, this could work for you.

Possible pitfalls of this video: if you have more than one kid, chances are the older, more precocious ones are going to notice the fact that there are major similarities between each child’s videos. And if your kids are familiar with your photos, they might recognize the fact that the ones in the video are from you, not Santa. Although I suppose you could just say Santa has access to your photo stream like every other app on earth.

Honestly, even if my kids were younger, I might forgo this in favor of leaving certain things up to their imaginations (which may sound strange after what I just wrote about my kids needing details). But judge for yourself. I just think there’s a difference between seeing Santa’s world in “real life” versus a cartoon.

I couldn’t embed the video, but I did make a fake one for my daughter, “Elfie” (Elfie is her bloggy pseudonym). Incidentally, I guess no one in the world is actually named Elfie because Santa pronounces her name “Alfie” (there’s some irony in there somewhere). Her name, age, what she did last year, what she wants for Christmas, and even if she’s been naughty or nice can all be changed. I put in “naughty” just for the hell of it.

And special thanks to one of the great World’s Worst Moms on Facebook for tipping me off to PortableNorthPole.com. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who she was because I suck so badly at Facebook that I can’t find the frickin’ post where we “talked.” Yes folks, it really is that bad.

All I can say is, thank goodness Santa still accepts snail mail. Because it might take me until Valentine’s Day to find his email address.

 

6 Comments… add one

Ginger December 9, 2012, 6:26 am

We used the portable North pole last year….had my then 4 year old in tears cause she was naughty…we had Santa send an updated one two days before Christmas that she was being good. It was a lot of fun and kinda cruel to sit and watch her bite her nails waiting while the elves figured out if she had been naughty or nice…And my lovely, now 5 year old, asks too many darn detailed questions about elves and the tooth fairy and Santa..Seriously….she asked, “Why does the tooth fairy collect teeth? What does she do with them? How does she get money? What color are her wings? What kinds of shoes does she wear?” And don’t get me started on that stupid elf on the shelf….Her preschool teacher read the darn book to the kids, then got one for class and told us all we should get one….so I did…the lady needs to be drawn and quartered… If I forget to move the little buggars I am making up lies…”You must have been so good they had nothing to report”
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Tammy December 11, 2012, 7:17 pm

What, does she own stock in Elf on the Shelf or something? That’s just wrong!

Andrea December 9, 2012, 8:15 am

At 12 and 15, am sure we are fresh out of believers here, but they have never said it out loud! (phew) they are even making small attempts to humor the pop elf on a shelf I bought this year!
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Tammy December 11, 2012, 7:18 pm

I wonder if mine will humor me. According to my parents, I still believe in Santa.

pbe56 December 9, 2012, 1:56 pm

Oh, I want to make a portable North Pole for me!!

Tammy December 11, 2012, 7:19 pm

You should do it! That would actually make a pretty funny Christmas card.

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