Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The Easter Bunny's Handwriting

I was a precocious child.

Once, during Brownie camp, we were all given nicknames by the leaders.
While there was some question over other monikers, mine was unanimous: I was to be dubbed "What If".

For my curiosity moved beyond simple bombardment of adults with whys. I wasn't content to merely know why, but I wanted to know how it applied to the real world, how it interacted with other factors. Hence my fascination with hypothetical situations leading me to be deemed "What If".

However, my musings were not solely in the hypothetical realm.

Prime example:
When I was around 6 or 7, I remember approaching my father.
"Daddy, if Santa and his elves make all the toys we get themselves, why does this toy I got in my stocking have a trademark from another company on it?"
My dad managed to keep his cool under pressure, and pretended to speak to be on an honest level.
"Princess, the truth is that Santa and his elves actually can't make all the gifts for every kid in the world themselves. The secret is that Santa actually is friends with some of the other toymakers around the world, who help him out when things get busy."

I have to look back on that one with kudos to my dad. He prolonged my belief a little longer, with a little help from some conveniently placed snowy footprints by the fireplace.

However, my observational skills got the better of me soon afterwards, as I woke up one Easter morning and read the Easter Bunny's annual message, instructing us about the secret gifts scattered throughout the house, scrawled on a piece of paper on the kitchen table.

Reading it, I suddenly became painfully aware of a fact that had remained at the back of my mind, yet never quite rose to the surface until that very moment-- the Easter Bunny's writing was the exact same as my mother's.

It all came flooding into my head at once.
Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, even the Tooth Fairy-- they were all a myth.
I burst into tears at the kitchen table in my pajamas in front of my confused little sister.
My father quickly rushed me upstairs to the bedroom, where I sobbed that I had figured it all out. He comforted me, then explained it all, answering all my questions on the topic without boundaries.
After my gasps for air had stopped, and I started to giggle about the absurdity of this complex story I was now a part of, we colluded to keep my sister's belief intact. We came up with everything from an excuse for my tears to answers to some of her likely questions.

And I defended her belief with every iota of creativity I could muster. Even when my friends were bent on exposing the truth, I would staunchly explain to them how Santa Claus was the only plausible explanation of their filled stockings in front of her, and then chide them behind their back for their malice.
Thankfully, despite that tear-filled Easter morning, my sister didn't notice the similarity between St Nick's milk stained notes and my mother's shopping list for at least a few more years.

***

Extra big thank you to everyone in bloggie land, for all your kind words and concern. I'm sorry I have been more M.I.A. on your comment sections than I would like-- I am stealthily writing this under the eyes of a nosy co-worker as we speak, so I will have to wait for a little more spare time and privacy to visit.

I did want to mention that my sis is no longer going on her ill-advised trip, as is now mentioned at the bottom of the last post. It is apparently a financial decision, but few details are known right now. Good news, although not the perfect way of coming about it :).

Other good news... I hope you don't mind me tooting my own horn, but I am 20-something bloggers blogger of the week! It is actually a tremendous honour considering how many talented writers frequent that site.
It is also a great site for findings other similar minded writers, so I would encourage you all to drop by!

30 comments:

megabrooke said...

I don't really remember how or why I found out that there was no Santa, Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy. I enjoyed your story though, and think it's so nice that you kept the idea alive for your little sister.
Also, glad to hear things all worked out with her trip and all.
And congrats on being the honor!

Jess said...

First comment! Whooooo! I'm glad it worked out with your sister. Things have a funny way of working themselves out.

Also. As for the easter bunny - I'm only slightly jealous that your childhood had more figments of imagination than mine. But only by a little.

Jess said...

Damnit. I got distracted in between writing and typing in the word verifications. I was so excited too. Fine. Go be Blogger of the Week. I'll be second comment of the day. And now third.

Miriam said...

I don't even remember when I figured it out. I'm sure my sister was mean and told me. But I do remember babysitting for a little girl and I thought she went to the bathroom and instead came back with a little bag of teeth and said "Look what I found in Mommy's drawer! I wonder why she has teeth in her drawer?" The wheels were clicking and I had to think fast. I said "The Tooth Fairy is the one who takes your teeth and gives you money for them, but sometimes parents want them back to have a memory of when you lost that tooth so they write to the Tooth Fairy and ask for her to return those teeth."

Crisis Averted.

http://lspoon.wordpress.com

A Lil' Irish Lass said...

Congratulations on being Blogger of the Week! Toot away :)

PG said...

Kudos to you for getting blogger of the week!

Very cute story "what if" story. The tag line under my name in my junior high school year book is "I don't understand" for all of the questions I used to ask in class (which apparently isn't cool when you're 13-14). That, or I was just an idiot that didn't understand anything. I'll go with the former.

What a relief to hear about your sister. I wonder if good judgement
got to her.

Yoda said...

That was a cute story :-)

I think I am born cynical. The Christmas I found the Tintin comics I wanted badly in the stockings, I realized that Santa thing has to be a myth. I had only told my mom which one I'd want!

Miriam D said...

Haha, you know, I kept a journal for a while and one day I opened it up to find a note from the "Diary Fairy". It was in my mom's handwriting. I went to her to complain about her reading my diary when she claimed she had no idea what I was talking about. I stopped writing in the diary (except I wrote back and said: stop reading my diary!). Cute story. Congrats on blogger of the week!!

Sheila said...

In our house, Santa only fills the stockings as the presents under the tree are from mom and dad. The presents in the stocking are wrapped, but there are no tags and therefore no handwriting on the packages. I am certain my 12 yr old knows the truth, but he keeps the spirit alive for his 10 yr old sister.

I was glad to see that your sister's trip has been cancelled for now - even if other people know this guy.

Congratulations on your bloggy award!

mcgee said...

Haha what a cute story! I don't even remember when I found out the horrible truth about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, but I do remember not letting on that I knew for a few years after so as to milk the gift/money/egg giving for all it was worth.

t.b.f.love. said...

Yayy blogger of the week! Even considering how busy you are, you still find time to blog - you definitely deserve the title =)

Mrs4444 said...

Sweet story. Thanks for sharing.

Ant said...

Haha! Both my sister and I had independently seen the tooth fairy and santa claus but we kept a pact not to mention it for years, because we (correctly as it turned out) surmised that the presents and money would continue to flow if the parental unit thought we still believed...

Mythical fairies are one thing. Cold hard cash is quite another - tis the season for mercenary shenanigans... :-)

Chris Benjamin said...

i never experienced a big reveal like that. it just sort of slowly dawned on me about santa over the years, and whenever i was in doubt i would come up with my own creative explanations. [kind of like a climate change denier.] I was actually afraid to express doubt to my parents or elder sibling.

anyhoo, congrats on the recognition, that's awesome!

Beth said...

You are a great older sister. My older sister made a point of informing me about Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc. as soon as she knew.

Congratulations on the honour!

Crushed said...

Good news about your sis...

About Santa, it's interesting point, one which I do have an opinion on, but will likely post on it nearer the day.

I'm six months away from being too old for your listed site :)

A Margarita said...

Congrats!

Awwww, you're such a sweet older sister!

Wendy said...

I never really experienced the whole "Omygod, santa isn't real!" ordeal. One day I believed in him, the next I didn't.

I'm glad about your sister and congrats! :)

S'Mat said...

haha! i know exactly what you mean with the parent-condoned breaching of domestic security becoming saliently suspicious to the enquiring mind of children.
like: what kind of bunny deals in eggs? exactly how big is this bunny? basket carrying tasks necessarily require opposable thumbs, assuming the easter bunny is portrayed correctly by drug-stores, so what gives? why is pagan symbology so widely accepted here, when other religious appropriations have demonized pre-christian idols (horns and hooves on the devil vs. satyrs)?

my own mother's approach was cunning, she gained a good 6 months on our suspension of disbelief by not introducing the chocolate element of easter until i was maybe 6 or 7. one day we woke up to her saying that the place was littered with chocolate and all we had to do was find it! that's like border-guards' abilities to spot hippies... but imagine, using the chocolate business to reign the kids' belief back on in... ingenious!
chocolate? I BELIEVE!

cinemec said...

whaddya mean there's no Santa??!!

brandy said...

Nice work on twentysomething! That's awesome. And your sister is so lucky that she has you. I think my YOUNGER brother figured out the Santa thing before me. Oh man. That makes me giggle.

Unknown said...

Very similar story here but it was my Dad's handwriting.

I admit that with my own kids I feel a bit guilty with the whole Santa thing.

Who? Me? said...

We moved the day after Christmas one year. And I remember asking my dad if Santa was going to come to the new house or the apartment. I was starting to question Santa at this point. He told me that he would sleep by the tree and make sure Santa stopped by! Santa ended up coming to the new house and I remember saying, if Grandma and Grandpa go to the new house Santa isn't real because how could they know where Santa would go? They came to the apartment and I believed for another year.

Eve said...

I'm still pissed about Santa. What a scam! And for what purpose? I said to my mom when I was 7, "Mom, tell me the truth. Is there a Santa?" She said no, and I burst into tears. Why did the lie have to end?

Why?

(I'm sort of joking about the above.)

It's so sweet how you take care of your sister, btw.

Lisa said...

Congratulations on being blogger of the week! And thank you for the comment you left about Mocha. *Hugs* I don't know if I told you this but I found out about Santa in third grade. I was 8. I cried and didn't talk to my dad for a week. I felt so betrayed. Haha.

eric1313 said...

My family belonged to one of those religions where they tell all of their children that Santa is a pagan myth, that Jesus was not born on Christmas/Yule, that Easter is the equinox, so is halloween, and everything else that is good and fun in this world is debunked, too. Care to guess which one? Here's a hint: they like to knock on your door on Saturday mornings.

The over all effect was I became heavy metal listening, DnD playing, occult buff who refused to be baptized.

At least you were allowed your Illusions. Me, I was to be made bitter early, and then had to discover the good things myself.

Fun, fun!

Take care and thank you so much for your kindness my friend.

Jess | the Jess Journals said...

Cute story, and congrats on blogger of the week! :)

I never really truly believed in santa...I think I was too busy just discovering things about the world to really dwell on it. Weird, huh? My parents tried to make us believe every once in a while but it was too sporadic for us to really actually believe it.

I remember when I discovered email and my younger sister's friend had 'santa's' email, so i'd email and ask questions. whoever it was had a pretty good imagination. haha

i'm glad to know that your lil sis isn't going on the trip anymore - must be a huge relief, even if it was cause of financial reasons and not because she didn't think it was a good idea anymore!

Tina Poe said...

Congrats on blogger of the week!

I don't think I ever believed in Santa or the easter bunny or anything, my parents just weren't into that kind of stuff. I really liked your story though!

Maithri said...

Hey princess,

Love this story...

I dont think i really truly believed Santa was a lie until i was asked to take part in a debate called "Santa clause is a justifiable deception" - yes a late bloomer ;) lol

Congrats on the award. Very much deserved.

Lots of love, M

Anonymous said...

i could not stop laughing at how adorable you were with your questions and your parents attempts to keep the faith going for at least a bit longer!

that's great news about your sister, sweetie. seriously so happy that it all worked out (well, even if it was a "financial decision"!) i hope this means no more headaches from wearing the big sister hat for a while!