How to Believe in Santa: See Him Through the Admiring Eyes of Children

I Was 31 When I First Believed

Photo by Mike Arney on Unsplash

“They err who think Santa Claus enters through the chimney. He enters through the heart.” — Charles Howard, Legendary Locals of Orleans County

“Mommy, look! He’s HERE! Mommy! Can you believe it?” Katie, a blonde, wispy-haired five-year-old bounced up and down on Gramps’ hearth.

Cassie, her three-year-old sister, sat next to her, smiling in that big-grinned, full-toothed, tight smile that only a toddler can manage.

Their eyes were huge and shining, big as lighted windows. Their pink cheeks glowed. They wore matching peach sweatshirts, each hand-painted with a big snowman. Both girls were laughing, bubbles of joy popping out of their round-O mouths, watching in amazement as he walked in the family room door. Transfixed by the sight.

So was I.

It didn’t matter that I was a college-educated, thirty-one-year-old working woman who understood reality. An involuntary gasp still escaped my own mouth. He was here.

No doubt about it. He had to be real. It had to be him.

Santa Claus had come.

Jolly, Jovial Santa Was Standing in Our Family Room