Santa, the deer and all that North Pole Stuff

It has been suggested that I have somehow caused Hallie's proclivity toward relishing Christmas. Hey, I'm not a fanatic and, though I don't grumble about the mall decorations displayed before Halloween, I concede to waiting until after a certain December birthday to get a tree (never mind that it would dry out anyway) and I wholeheartedly agree that the Christmas music should start after Thanksgiving. So, I'm not hopeless, right? Dear Hallie has come by her love of Christmas honestly and I don't do anything to encourage her further - not really, anyway. Believe me, she is well versed on all things Christmas and if you can get her to sit still long enough, she will fill you in on what you need to know. Here are her thoughts...
On reindeer: "Reindeers fly and they eat hay. They also leap out and play and they stop so Santa could give the presents to happy little children named Hallie (when pressed she includes Anna and Mommy and Daddy). They fly onto the roof pulling Santa's sleigh."




On Santa: "He lives at the North Pole. Santa delivers presents and loves to ride his reindeer all the time. Before they dash away, he calls all his reindeer by name. Elves make the toys and he lives with Mrs. Claus."


On Christmas Trees: "Christmas trees grow from seeds. You get them from the Christmas Tree store and then what you do with them is put it on top of your van. Then you take it home. Then you decorate it with ornaments and a star and lights. Then you go to sleep. Santa Claus comes and brings you presents and your mom and dad have to wake you up when Santa's gone."

She clearly recognizes all the symbols of a secular Christmas and, at this point, sees them as decoration for celebrating Jesus' birth. She has synthesized all the information beautifully. She can distinguish that the two Santa's she saw are different Santas (which is why she asked each one for something different) yet she knows there is one other Santa who pulls the Christmas Eve shift. It's perfectly logical to her and I wouldn't mess with it for the world.

I think she gets it better than we do.