Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

I'm back...again! Okay, now that the Women's Retreat is over, I can really get down to the business of Christmas.

Now before I go any further, I do want to say that I do appreciate the spiritual side of Christmas. Even though there is no proof that it's the actual birth date of Jesus, I enjoy celebrating the arrival of our Savior here on earth. When my kids were little, we often had a birthday cake for Jesus. Yes, I'm aware of all of the "pagan" customs that influenced the way we celebrate Christmas. I have been very careful with my kids, as well as with myself, to know what is of God, and what is man made, and I enjoy those man made customs just for the fun that they are.

I do love all of the traditional things that go along with the Christmas season even though most have nothing to do with Jesus . And one of those things is SANTA CLAUS! The older I get, the more I love Santa, I think because of the childlike wonder that goes along with the myth. I DO believe in Santa, not as a person, but the spirit of giving that goes along with it. There's just something about Santa Claus that makes me happy.

If you don't already know, I collect Santas. I probably have about 150 or so, I haven't conducted a census yet this year. I gave Mallory that job a couple of years ago, because it seemed important to her to know how many there were. But Mallory does a "preacher's count" and counts each individual little Santa, even if they are a set. I consider a set as one. So being the wife of the man who takes the official counts at church, I can't do a preacher's count and feel good about it!

I purchased a few this fall, so when we went to Lancaster last weekend, I hadn't really planned to get more. But I came home with two...Dave just hugged me and said, "We have to form a support group for you."

Unpacking all the Santas and placing them around the living room takes a few hours. I enjoy it because I get to look at each one and remember who gave it to me or where I got it from. I like to look at all the little details that make each one special and unique. Packing them up again after the New Year is NOT fun. Every January I say "Enough!" And then I buy more!


Santas have their own storage closet. There are a some boxes of other things in this closet, but last year I had to relocate a couple, and this year a couple more may come out as well.

The first out of the closet every year is "Nick." He's my tallest Santa. I bought him in North Carolina. He was going to take up a seat in the van, so we told the kids we were picking someone up and bringing him home with us, his name was Nick, and he was an older man. They believed us, and thought it was pretty funny when we picked up "Nick" from the store. It's become a tradition that he gets to the living room first each Christmas season. Nick gets packed up with care, I "set" the curls in his beard and spray it with a fresh coat of hairspray each January.

Here are all the boxes of Santas in the living room ready to be unpacked!

I've been asked when, and why I began to collect Santas. All of Dave's family members are into collections. Coins, lighthouses, pewter figurines, stamps, Christmas Village, etc...the list goes on. I'm not much of a collector. But the Christmas of 1991 I noticed that I had about a half dozen Santas sitting together on a shelf in the kitchen, and it just occurred to me that this would be a neat thing to collect. I always loved Christmas, so it made sense. I figured it was a good idea because it would only be out for about a month each year, so I'd only have to dust it once before I put it away again. I never imagined that it would grow into what it is now, or that I would have such an affection for Santa Claus!

These Santas bring me joy. Sometimes I see one that I like and it makes me squeal with joy. Like the teapot Santa I spotted before I was in the door of the gift shop at Willow Valley. I actually squealed! I got some funny looks, but I didn't care, I was just completely infatuated at first sight. In another post I'll take you on "tour" of my Santas. And maybe it will bring you joy too!