Relatives of ours live in a large old craftsman-style house with dark wood paneling, a great room, a carved balustraded staircase, and a large stone fireplace. It’s a bit dark inside for my liking, but when it’s decorated for Christmas each year, it somehow becomes a magical place. They have a tall, highly decorated Christmas tree in the hallway, and lots of extra twinkling lights around the stairs and along the rails and old-style paneling. With the fire lit and the main lights off, it’s a scene straight out of one of those traditional Victorian Christmas cards.
Your home has become a focal point for the holiday celebrations of your family and close friends. Early on Christmas morning it has become a tradition for various families to gather there and stack their Christmas presents under the tree to form an impressive colorful pile. We all stay for a Christmas morning brunch around the fire before thinking about Christmas dinner preparations. The highlight of the morning, of course, is the opening of presents.
A few years ago, one of the grandparents was convinced to dress up as Santa Claus in a Santa suit to deliver Christmas presents under the Christmas tree. He chose a traditional red velvet Santa suit with white trim, a large white beard, a wide black belt and black boots. It was bought ready and was of excellent quality at a very affordable price. He also has a small hand bell to get everyone’s attention. He looked like a jovial Santa even without a Santa costume, and he played the part brilliantly to the great delight of all the children. Having Santa Claus in person delivering the Christmas presents greatly increased the pleasure of being seen on the children’s faces. A very realistic Santa as the center of attention made the Christmas morning gathering a very special annual event that everyone looked forward to for weeks to come.
The Christmas costume idea was so successful that now everyone wears some kind of Christmas hat, mostly Santa hats in various styles, elf hats with big ears, or reindeer antlers. There have been a few variations on these traditional themes, such as the occasional Grinch from the Dr. Seuss books and movie, or Jack Skellington from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even the family pet has his Santa hat.
Last year, one of the younger mothers helping Santa sort the presents arrived in a very attractive and sexy red and white Christmas costume. There has been a lot of speculation among men as to whether this new trend will inspire other moms to join it this year.
Grandpa enjoyed being a Santa so much that he also wore his Santa costume to help with a visit to the children’s hospital and also has a couple of other community Christmas activities scheduled before Christmas.
