Holiday Traditions: A Visit From Santa

Every Christmas season, millions of children line up in shopping malls just so they can see Santa Claus. Our kids are no exception.

But one thing that is different, and a tradition that I did not grow up with, is Santa Claus comes and visits on Christmas Eve.

This is a Christmas tradition that comes from my husband's family. On Christmas Eve, we go to my in-law's house for dinner and to open presents. But just before it's time to open our presents, Santa arrives to visit the children, bringing a small gift, and a reminder to continue being a good little boy or girl because he would return later that night with a much bigger gift, but only if they were good the rest of the evening.

Of course, a visit from Santa is a perfect picture opportunity! My daughter has yet to sit with Santa. She is very afraid of him. But our son is very brave and always has been.

My husband played the role of Santa for several years in a row, but our oldest niece kind of caught on that he was Santa. Last year, we didn't want to spoil the magic of Santa's visit, so hubs stayed himself. His aunt and uncle were visiting, so his uncle took on the role of Santa Claus. And we had our oldest niece convinced that he was the absolute, real Santa Claus. She was definitely enchanted. She did figure out later that evening that it was her great uncle, but she was smart enough to not spoil it for the younger children, and she was very pleased with herself for figuring things out.

A friend of ours will play the role of Santa this year, someone that neither of our nieces have ever met, so we'll see if we can stump them both and keep them guessing who "Santa" really is. This is definitely a fun tradition, and we all love seeing the kids' eyes light up when Santa walks into the house (excluding our daughter who will probably come running to me to be held...maybe next year she'll be ready for Santa :).