According to the Polar Express book (and movie) by Chris Van Allsburg, Santa Claus does not exist. Or does he?   In the book, for one doubting boy, an astonishing event occurs. Late on Christmas Eve night, he lies in bed hoping to hear the sound of reindeer bells from Santa’s sleigh. When to his surprise, a steam engine’s roar and whistle can be heard outside his window. The conductor invites him on board to take an extraordinary journey to the North Pole with many other pajama-clad children. There, he receives an extraordinary gift only those who still believe in Santa can experience.  This year was our Polar Express year, the year where Meredith doesn’t really believe, but really wants to believe.

She’s been asking me for the past couple of years about the existence of Santa and the Tooth Fairy and if I was Santa and the Tooth Fairy.   The Easter Bunny is not a big deal to her.  I’ve been pretty evasive about the question and told her that “I believe in Santa” and  asked her if “she really thought that I looked like a fairy”.  I’m sure that deep down, she KNEW that Jim and I were the tooth fairy and Santa but she really wanted to believe.  This year, she asked Jim and he told her that that we were Santa and the Tooth Fairy.  I think that she was a little disappointed about finally knowing and was quick to ask if Santa still came even though she didn’t believe any more.  Even though she knew, there was a part of her that wants to believe in the magic.  So we told her that Yes, Santa would still visit her and we got tickets to the Polar Express Train ride from the Fox Valley Trolley Museum.  It was fun, but it was obvious that it was meant for littler kids.  And although she enjoyed the christmas carols and chatting with Santa, her first words out of her mouth were “I suggest that we NOT do this again next year”.  One of the best things about having a small child is enjoying the magic of Santa all over again and Although I’m a little sad that we have left Santa behind, It’s nice not not to have the pressure of being Santa.  Especially since my tenure of Santa is not exactly stellar.  Santa over the past couple of years has had some problems with quality control at the North Pole and Mere has received gifts that were just what she wanted, but were broken/not functional.   This year was no exception.  Jim bought a used typewriter from someone off the internet and by the time Mere got it out of the box and tried using it, the carriage didn’t advance when you pressed a key.  Fortunately, she is so in love with it that she doesn’t care and has been typing up a storm.  Jim found a place in the city to repair it, but first we have to pry it out of her hands when she goes back to school.   None of the rest of us has the first clue as to why she loves it, when she has her very own computer.

I’m not sure who was more excited on Christmas Eve, Meredith or me.  Earlier in December, Marlyce and Carol bought themselves an IPod Touch and Meredith REALLY liked it and wanted one.  She is not usually one to obsess over things, but she really wanted one and was doing everything and anything to figure out how to get her hands on one as soon as possible.  We told her that we liked it too, but that it was really way too expensive for Christmas and that we just couldn’t afford it right now and perhaps when we got our tax refund we would consider it.  She was good about it, but she really wanted one and latched onto Marlyce’s every chance she got.  She was a natural with it and immediately figured out how to change the wallpaper, download apps and access the internet with it.  She offered both Marlyce and Carol to provide them with technical support for the low fee of 15 minutes of usage per question.  Did I mention how much she liked the IPod Touch?  It turns out that Carol purchased an 8 gig I Touch on a spectacular cyber-monday deal and then decided that she wanted a 64 gig model.  Marlyce ended up with a 32 gig model and we bought the 8 gig for Meredith.  One day while she was in school, I set up I Tunes and uploaded all of the favorite MP3’s and designed a wallpaper graphic for her Christmas surprise.  I couldn’t wait to give it to her.  Marlyce and Carol wrote out some clues and we sent her running through the house to find them all.  At one point, she even had to dislodge Charlie, the cat, from his perch to get the envelope that he was sitting on.  Once she finally deciphered the clues, she went looking for the final clue on what she thought was Marlyce’s ITouch.  Here’s what she saw.

Meredith was speechless.  I’ve never seen her speechless before.  She had to read the graphic at least twice and ask for confirmation before she really beleived it.  It was great.  Then she screamed.  LOUDLY!  Between the ITouch and the typewriter, she was a very happy girl.  Later, when someone asked her if she got everything that she wanted, she grinned and said “Yes, and More”.  (The TV that the Aunts gave her was a big hit, too)  She really was surprised and thankful.  She sent me email that said “thanks for the gr8t gift and that I could use it, too.”   She is a great kid.