My Mother Killed Someone

The story that originally appeared here was a bit too somber for the season! But what happened was this: My mom told the second-grade me there was no Santa. Grief was quickly followed by indignation that my sister had been filling the stockings for years.

I should have been onto the whole thing by that last bit of evidence--my stocking always had way too many nuts in it and not nearly enough candy.

13 comments:

NiennaC said...

Oh! That's so sad! I'm sorry that she killed Santa for you.

Chris Eldin said...

I wasn't sure if this was a joke or not, but it sounds serious.
I actually think that is horrible. Really. I'm sorry about the matter-of-fact way you were told.

I told my oldest one this summer (he's 9) only because he beeeggged me for the truth. He was in tears from frustration, so I had to tell him. I didn't want to.

Anonymous said...

This entry is a work of art. Aw.
Parents!
I wormed the truth out of my mother about Santa when I was some tender age. I would not leave her alone (I cannot get across how annoying I was in my quest for the truth) until she finally told me there was no Santa. And then I slowly realized that no Santa meant no Easter Bunny etc. And then after this information sunk in I was like, "WHY DID YOU TELL ME?! I DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO KNOW!!"

Anonymous said...

Okay, I feel a bit evil for proclaiming this entry a work of art, since your second grade self was obviously traumatized (for that I am sorry!), but this is seriously a work of writing art.
(But my genuine condolences to your second grade self!).

Danette Haworth said...

Thank you! My mom is such a nice person--this story makes her sound different from the mother I know, but it really did happen this way. I felt like someone had just died. It was awful.

In later years, my brother faked his belief on all of our behalves--if he still believed in Santa, we still got all that candy! This worked out well.

Danette Haworth said...

And my mom stopped smoking a long time ago!

Stephen Parrish said...

I agree with Courtney that this tale is well told, and with Chris that you shouldn't have had to tell it. Kids learn the truth about Santa in their own time.

Anonymous said...

I have a five-year-old and a nine-year-old. They're both waiting eagerly for Santa to arrive next week. Perhaps the boy is humoring us, but he loves the concept. And so he should.

Charles Gramlich said...

Oh this brings back some sad memories. I told Josh when he was 8 or 9 because the neighbor kid was teasing him and I wanted him to hear it from me. He had much the same reaction you did and it broke my heart. We had so much fun with Santa when he was little.

As for me, I found out by overhearing my daddy on the phone.

Brenda said...

When I was 6 years old my Dad had a little too much to drink on Christmas Eve. When I got up Christmas morning, the new metal play stove that "Santa" had brought me was smashed. When I asked what happened my dad said Santa had a drinking problem and he fell into it...I was mad at Santa for years...by the time I got over being mad, I found out he wasn't real...sigh...

Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

Well at least you got the chance to believe. I knew nothing of Santa Claus till I was 5, and a man at the shopping center asked me what I asked Santa Claus for this year. I said, "Who is Santa Claus?"

Then, and only then, my parents told me Santa Claus was an imaginary person for greedy children to believe in. We "celebrated" Christmas at my house, but it was an austere occasion, and to this day I have issues with Christmas.

Danette Haworth said...

Anonymous,
I'm sorry for your austere Christmases. Though we were on a tight budget, my mom and dad went all out for Christmas--you could hardly get to the tree for all the presents. It took us hours to open all of them. My mom tells me that when we were little, we actually grew tired during the present-opening session and had to take breaks!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Danette ... sounds like y'all had fun & I am happy for you!

We were not wealthy when I was growing up but we weren't poor. My parents were just strict & didn't believe in having very much fun. I'm happy that they realized the error of their ways by the time my sisters and I had children. I told my daughter about Santa, but when she was 7 she figured out that he wasn't real.