Every year the question arises for many parents: Do I tell my child – or do I lie to them? Or is it a lie at all if I tell him that Santa Claus might not even exist? Or … maybe it does exist?
Oh, but it’s also too darn. So much depends on the story of Santa Claus. At the sight of no older man do children’s eyes shine so brightly and with anticipation – except for Grandpa. Yes, to be precise, they sometimes shine especially when they see St. Nicholas, because he somehow bears a bit of resemblance to Grandpa. Okay, to reveal a secret here: Every year, Grandpa IS Santa Claus.
He has a beautiful red robe, a miter, and a golden staff. In addition he has the grandpa belly, the grandpa eyes and the grandpa voice. Every year when he rings the doorbell of one of his children’s families, there is at least one grandchild who is already shouting at the door: “That’s grandpa!” Sometimes it was the four-year-old daughter, sometimes the two-year-old cousin. The boys in the family, oddly enough, have never recognized grandpa. In any case, the parents of the cheeky grandpa screamers regularly sweat blood and water. Is the little baby brother starting to cry now because he wants to be held by grandpa? Or does the oldest cousin tug at Santa Claus’s beard to see if she was right?
Luckily, the experience of the years shows: You can breathe out. As soon as Grandpa, uh, St. Nicholas comes into the apartment with heavy steps and asks who would like to hold the golden staff, the children – even the loudest ones – are dead quiet and listen intently to the holy man. And at the end, when the gifts have been distributed and the de-Santa Clause sneaks back to his family and asks: “And has Santa Claus come yet?” He can be sure that the children will shout: “Yeah! Grandpa “Where have you been the whole time?”
However, a Santa Claus not only has to watch out for smart-ass granddaughters, no, he must not make careless mistakes either. A valued colleague said that the four-year-old boy next door discovered him to be Santa because he had dutifully taken off his shoes in front of the door, even as a holy man – and forgot that he was wearing his eye-catching orange socks.