Yes, it is that time of year when kids will make a long list of presents for Santa. This can also become a tough situation when families can't afford items on that list. Parents have to find a plausible explanation for why Santa won't or didn't bring in what the kids asked for.
Later story
I don't particularly remember what the story was about Santa and the presents he would bring. However, since I have a much younger brother, I remember the story that was told to him. I can't be sure if the story was the same for me, as the situation was different when I was that age.
Not much money
My parents separated when my brother was 4 years old, and my Mom had to work often 2 jobs to make ends meet, so it was unlikely that we would get big presents. She would save all year so we would get nice presents but forget those that cost hundreds of dollars, back then. But like most kids, we were making our Christmas list too, so my Mom had to devise a strategy.
Santa is not free
Since the financial situation had to be addressed, my Mom explained to us (well, mostly my brother) that although Santa could manufacture toys and games, the parents still had to pay for those presents, so whatever we would get was dependent on the price parents could pay. I guess Santa should be bringing the bill with the toys!
Nowadays, some parents have other strategies to deal with the otherwise unfair distribution of presents to the kids, by Santa. What stories did you hear about that? Did you ever have to make up a particular story to address this? Were you told a particular story? Share those in the comments below. I am very curious.
2 thoughts on “Remember when…? – Santa money”
Mu mom was a single Mom as well, but she had 6 kids.
Many times through November and December, we would hear the sewing machine going, long past bedtime. If we got up to investigate, Mom had a half made dress or shirt on the table. She said she was making it for Mrs. Whoever for a party. We all got a nice new shirt or blouse for Christmas, and the mandatory pyjamas, but ours were made with love. I got an EXCLUSIVE line of clothes for my brand new BENDABLE Barbie doll, and the boys got GI Joe and some clothes for him.
We did get a few store bought gifts, (courtesy of the church and charity organizations), but that was not as common in the 50s as it is now.
My Mom always said that the elves could make cloth and wood toys, but they couldn’t make electric stuff, because they had no electricity at the North Pole. So Santa had to buy a few things. Also, only a few elves knew how to work with metal, so very few bikes, and big things like that got made. One year, we got a bike, addressed to ‘The Big Kids’, and a wagon addressed to ‘The Little Kids’.
We used the same basic story when our kids were little, and asked for inappropriate gifts.
Oh, that is a cool story. It was a great idea about the electricity and the metal working. Clever Mom!