As a child, and far before my time, parents told their children about Santa Claus as well as the tooth fairy.
The tooth fairy I never believed in as the concept made no sense.
I liked the idea and the impersonations of Santa’s at school or at the mall. The actors on television, the animations that portrayed Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Santa’s elves and Santa’s reindeer- I mean who did not love Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?
But when it came to the story of Santa Claus being real, I had my doubts.
I wanted to believe he was real as a kid; however, things just did not add up for me.
Number one, Santa was too heavy for the reindeer to carry his sleigh- and what was there to keep the reindeers able to fly up into the air?
Number two, we did not have a chimney in my family home so where was Santa Claus going to slide down?
It all sounded good for imaginary fun or entertainment, nevertheless, the notion was not easy for me to agree with even at a young age.
I decided to test what I had been told. On Christmas eve I sat up in the two front attic windows of my home before midnight. When midnight came, I did not see Santa, his sleigh, or reindeers loaded with gifts making their way over my neighbors’ rooftops.
I said to myself, “He’s not coming”, Santa Claus’s not showing up a confirmation to the doubts I already had.
After I made my way from the attic steps outside the door, my youngest aunt had said to me inside the hallway, “Toya- there isn’t any Santa Claus”.
My mother laughed when I informed her about my investigation and ended her humor with “Your nosey little butt up in that window”.
It was better for me to know the truth anyhow because it was more exciting for me as a child to have my own parents buy me gifts than to have some old guy who flew in the sky.
