The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Happy Wednesday Readers!  Can you believe that Christmas is this Sunday?!

This will be the first Christmas in my entire life where I will not be home for the holidays.  There will be no snow, none of my family’s holiday traditions, and no presents underneath my Christmas tree.

Instead of being home for Christmas in Michigan, I will be spending my first Christmas here in Madrid, Spain.  Instead of snow, we have rain.  Instead of Santa Claus, we have the Three Kings.  And instead of opening presents on the 25th, we open presents on the 6th of January.

Yes, it will be an extremely different Christmas, however new Christmas traditions form with age and change.  And besides, the best and most important part of the holidays is being with family and loved ones.

Which is why, even though I will not be home, it will still feel like the “most wonderful time of the year” because my family – my sister, mother and step-dad – are here in Spain celebrating the holidays with me!

(from left to right) My sister, my boyfriend, and myself in Madrid.

I have not seen them since October, and after they leave on the 6th of January I will not see them again until summer time, so it is extremely nice to be in their presence for these upcoming 3 weeks!

So, because the holidays are here and I have my family to entertain me, I would like to apologize for my lack of posting yesterday, and warn that in the future – at least for the next 3 weeks – I may not be updating Palm Trees & Bare Feet regularly.  

However, I’m sure you won’t be too sad without my regular posting since I’m sure I’m not the only one unable to blog regularly during the holiday season.  And besides, with family and friends, hot cocoa and gingerbread, and snowball fights and present giving, we will (at least should) completely forget about the un-realities of the virtual world.

So Happy Holidays All and Merry Christmas!

I Hope This Truly is The Most Wonderful Time of the Year For You!

One of the lit up Christmas trees in Madrid.

 

Here Comes Santa Claus

Christmas is 3 weeks and 2 days away.

It’s a time of giving, joy, celebrating with family and friends, decorating the Christmas tree, admiring the festive lights, and yes, Santa Claus.

Here in Spain, Santa became mainstream only recently while for years, and still now, it is the three Kings whom give the children their presents on the 6th of January (the 25th of December is the celebration of Jesus’ birth).

As an American, and a true believer in Santa Claus for my entire childhood, the thought of three Wise Men putting presents underneath the tree is quite absurd.  I mean, how do they get there?  Where are their flying reindeer?  Where do they live the rest of the year?  What is their equivalent of the North Pole?

Yes, a red-cheeked fat man coming down the chimney is loco in it’s own way, and to each culture its own, but I’m a fan of good ol’ Santa Claus.

I love the spirit of Christmas mainly because of Santa.  Ever seen Polar Express?  If not, you must.  Santa, for me, is not just some jolly never-dying guy who brings presents.  Santa represents the magical time of the holidays, the constant joy this time of year that seems to elude us during the other months, and the reminder that it is OK to believe.

This is the reason why I love Santa Claus, even at the age of 21.  In my personal opinion, I feel that every child should experience the magic of Santa, his reindeer and the North Pole.  My parents never actually told us that Santa did not exist.  As my sister and I got older, we just simply grew out of believing that he was a literal being - and of course we heard the non-existence of our favorite man from mean school bullies – and knew that those presents under the tree, even the ones which still said “From Santa” were actually from our loving parents.  

However, the magic and believing in the spirit of Christmas never left us, and still to this day, Santa equals magic for me.  Which is why I believe that children should never be told that there is no Santa.  

What is so wrong with letting them believe this one little thing while the rest of their world turns into constant stress, money, and worries?  If I ever met a grown man/woman whom still believed in Santa, I would never laugh, taunt or tease them.  No, I would bow down to them, maybe even propose, because in the sad, greedy world we live in, what’s the matter with believing in just a little magic and spirit?

All of the above got me thinking once I saw an article on the Huffington Post about a news anchor, who live on the air with children watching, said that there was no Santa Claus.

Watch it here:

Quite sad, isn’t it?  People were quite pissed at her comment and of course, I agree!  It is the parent’s job to tell their children about Santa, not someone who bluntly says, on the news, that “there is no Santa”.

So, what are your takes on all of this?  Do you think children need to know the “truth” about Santa at a certain age, or is it OK to let the children grow out of it on their own?  If you have kids, what age, if yet, did you explain to them about Santa?

Love to hear your thoughts!

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*Note: The images were taken from Google Images.  The video was taken from Youtube, its © belongs to NewsTsar’s Channel and FOX News.  However, the words, thoughts and opinions are my own: © Kalie Lyn, 2011.*