How to Keep the Spirit of Santa Claus Alive

Santa Claus

I have two boys who still believe in Santa Claus and I have come up with a few ways to keep this going. I remember when I was a child and my sister blew the whole mystery for me by telling me our parents were Santa, and I was devastated to say the least. I just think the longer they believe the more magical Christmas can be.

   Write letters to your child FROM Santa Claus instead of them writing to him. (They can still do that as well). Do this early, so they know Santa Claus is watching them and knows what they want. This will keep the little, ahem, angels, in good form all the way to Christmas ;) I like to write the letter on Christmas letterhead that you can find online, or even better, write it on the backside of X-mas wrapping paper. Make sure you mention their names and a few things they need to work on in the behavior department and then throw in what they want for Christmas. Place the letter in an envelope, make the return address the North Pole and don’t worry about a stamp, Santa doesn’t need stamps to send his mail, his elves deliver the letters ;)
    We like to use an advent calendar to have the kids count the days until Christmas and Santa’s arrival. I have a homemade calendar that we place candy in for each of the days so they get a treat each day. You can find chocolate filled advent calendars in stores if you don’t already have one. You could also make your own. Then let the countdown to Christmas begin!
  Another way to keep the spirit alive is to leave gifts for your children on the front door step from Santa. Attach a note about how good they have been and that Santa will see them soon! You could leave anything you would like from candy canes with a note tied to it, to maybe a small dollar store item. Use your imagination. The trick is slipping outside and knocking on the door and then running like the wind so they don’t catch you ;)
    Having a friend dressed as Santa Claus is a good way to surprise the kids. Be sure the “friend” isn’t recognizable to the children, this works better for smaller children. Have them come to the house and get the kids to answer the door.
    Program Santa’s phone number into your cell. My husband does this and in his contacts he show the kids where it says Santa. This comes in handy when they have been naughty ;)”I’ve got Santa’s cell phone number and I’m not afraid to call him.”
    Track Santa’s whereabouts via the computer. Go to http://www.noradsanta.org/ and watch where Santa has been and how long it will be before he gets to your house. This is a good thing to use to get the kids to bed, when they see how close he is they will rush off to bed!     Of course we all have taken part of the tradition of leaving cookies and milk for Santa, be sure to leave some carrots for Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer as well, they need their strength to fly! One year we didn’t have carrots so we left dog kibble, it worked! LOL! A good little trick is to write a little thank you note from Santa thanking the kids for the cookies and reindeer food, my kids always love seeing the note on Christmas morning.     If you are having problems getting your kids to sleep, try this little trick. My husband does this every year. He goes outside and rings some jingle bells and tosses rocks onto the roof to simulate Santa’s arrival. It works every time and they pass out!     Now enjoy your Christmas as a family and hope that the spirit of Santa stays alive for another year.