Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

A while back, there was an advertisement for people to send in a favorite Christmas tradition to Canton Community Leisure Services. They would choose their favorite and send Santa to the winner's neighborhood for some Christmas cheer this slightly less-than-ideal season.   

I decided to write something, just for fun. I asked my kids for ideas of traditions that we do. Victoria thought I should write about the Nativity that we act out each year. I wanted to tie it into Santa, to go along with the Santa theme. So here is what I wrote:

Christmas is a holiday full of traditions. One of the most popular and favorite being Santa Claus himself who represents selflessly giving to everyone in the world. 

Growing up, my own grandpa was Santa Claus in Dallas, TX, and surrounding areas. He and my grandma, who was Mrs. Claus, would visit hundreds of children and families each year, spreading joy to all in the Dallas Fortworth area. They were booked from Thanksgiving to New Year’s with parties and events. Many times, they would stop by unannounced where they saw a bunch of cars, indicating a holiday gathering was in place.

The most important part about Santa Claus is that he represents all the good and the love of Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. 

So every year on Christmas Eve as a child, and now with my own husband and children, we reenact the story of the Nativity. We choose parts, wear costumes, and the narrator reads the story from the Bible. Whoever we happen to be with or wherever we are, we continue that sacred tradition of acting out the Nativity. 

Well, mine was chosen as the favorite! I guess it was published in one of the community papers. I never saw it, so I'll have to ask about that. I was told Santa would come on the 17th on a fire truck!

I was a little worried at first because my kids are older now and we don't have a lot of kids in our cul-de-sac or even in our neighborhood anymore. I texted all my neighbors and told them to tell their friends with little kids, or family members, I posted on the Miller Elementary school Facebook page, and I posted on NextDoor Neighbor. I got a lot of responses, so then I became really excited! Our neighborhood could definitely use some extra Christmas cheer this year. Even some adults with teenagers were excited to see him!

Last night we went out a few minutes early and saw two families from Miller waiting by our driveway. Another friend came soon after that. Our other two neighbors joined as well. I could see cars parking on the street outside our cul-de-sac, and when our friends left, they said all the streets where Santa was going were full of friends, there to see Santa.

Here's the big event!

He threw out some glow toys for the kids. They loved it!

When they first started coming in.

It was the perfect evening with snow falling. The kids played in the snow while waiting. It was so fun and brought so much joy to us all!