I mentioned a while back that when COVID hit I was challenged to find a way to change up my son Zach’s environment, but in a safe way. Since then we have been driving around the beltway most evenings after work (see 1/22/21 post.)
Having done this for seven or eight months with little to entertain us beyond singing and looking for trucks and motorcycles, we were elated to see holiday decorations start popping up in neighborhoods.
Zach loves the holidays and anything festive. As we got closer to Christmas we played “Find Santa” games. I was grateful to those homes that spent extra time decorating with lawn blowups large and small. We even found a lit up Santa perched in a tree in front of someone’s house. That was our favorite (“Santa in the tree” is how Zach would let me know what he wanted to see.)
Fast forward to February. It hasn’t been easy explaining to Zach why our car rides are now so mundane. No Santas to look for (the one in the tree is long gone) and most displays have been packed up for next year. Zach doesn’t exactly understand why things were once so festive and lit up, and now lawns seem barren and boring.
But Zach does a good job trying to wrap his head around what I tell him, a conversation we have every car ride:
Zach: ”Find Santa?”
Me: “No Santa is gone remember? Where did he go?”
Zach: “Santa North Pole.”
Me: ”That’s right, he has to rest up. He will be back next year.”
Zach: “Next year.”
Me: “Yes! And remember, what holiday comes next?…Valentine’s Day!”
Zach: “Make a Valentine?”
Me: “Sure!”
All good. That is until we inevitably and every so often come across a lawn that has yet to realize it is February, leaving a lone Santa or Snoopy holiday blow up inflated which is just powerful enough to stoke that fire for Zach.
Zach: “There’s Santa!”
As if to tell me “I told you so” or “You don’t know what you are talking about Mom.” (Which may be spot on in many situations, but it shouldn’t apply here.)
With all due appreciation, and as one who does not invest in festive decorations around the holidays, I say a robust “Thank You” to those that do. It takes time, effort, work and creativity to light up our neighborhoods with Santas and other beautiful holiday scenes.
But now that Valentine’s Day, Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday are just a couple days away, can we give all the Santas a final send off? All of this intermittent reinforcement will keep us in this talk loop all year if we don’t end it. I’d love to wrap up our convos about Santa being at the North Pole and focus on the next big thing in Zach’s mind: Valentine’s Day.