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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

How a Silly Santa Story Exposed My  Hypocrisy

by Chautona Havig · 12 Comments

I’ll never forget that evening. It was in Fillmore, California on Mountain View Street.  I was four.

We all sat around the dinner table, and Dad had just poured milk.  I’m pretty sure he was about to stuff some cornbread in it.  Thought you oughtta know.

I’d spent the day with my cousin, Julie, and she’d told me all about this amazing guy—Santa Claus.  He made sure you weren’t a brat, and if you weren’t, he brought you cool presents on Christmas morning.

Complete honesty here?  I figured I had this one in the bag.  In my four-year-old mind, if Julie managed to eke out presents from this old dude in a velvet suit, then I could.  I didn’t get in nearly as much trouble as she did.

Except while I was at her house.  But that’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say, every evil cousin needs a scapegoat.  Just call me Billie.

 Not that I was bitter or anything.

So there I sat at the table, just going on and on about the amazingness of this Santa dude when my dad lost all patience.  He slammed his fist down on the table, milk spilled all over the place, and he almost shouted, “There is no Santa Claus. I am your Santa Claus.”

And so the dreams of yet another child were destroyed by the truth of Santa.  For what it’s worth, I suspect I had the shortest running “faith” in the jolly old elf of anyone in human history.

I couldn’t wait to tell Julie that she got it wrong.  That’s when my “revenge” withered. While Dad mopped up milk and explained why parents told the Santa lie (his words, folks) to their kids, he also informed me that it was not my job to correct Julie.  I was not to tell her that Santa wasn’t real.

Okay, I might still be a bit bitter about that.  Just kidding.  Mostly.

Years passed, and I had my own children.

We didn’t “do” Santa Claus with them, either.  You see, no matter how I might have felt that December night in Fillmore, my dad was right.  They could not have told me Santa was real and then later told me he wasn’t.  I was one of those kids who would have lost all faith in their word if they’d done that.  It’s who I was.

Not all kids are that way.  Yes, there’s hurt and disappointment when they figure out the Santa myth is just that—a myth.  But many (if not most) kids get that it was something their parents did to add enjoyment to holidays.

I wouldn’t have been. 

And I was not about to risk that with my own kids.  Confession time: I was tempted—really tempted.  Trust me, it’s easier to just follow along than to be a lone ranger on these things.  I spent years trying to teach my kids not to ruin it for others.  I’d say, “Just tell them that Santa isn’t invited to our celebrations.  It’s true, and yet it doesn’t spoil for them what their parents have chosen.”

Frankly, I know I created a few self-righteous little snots about it.  I’ll go further and admit that I sympathized.

Any way you look at it, Santa is a touchy subject. But what does all this mean?  What’s the point?  Well…

How a Silly Santa Story Exposed My Hypocrisy

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

How a Silly Santa Story Exposed My  Hypocrisy

Moore's Code: Santa's Secret RevealedBack somewhere between 2005 and 2010, I was sitting in my sewing room, working on orders, and singing along to The Brothers Four’s Christmas album.  They sang “The Night Before Christmas.”

A line appeared.  I stopped sewing.  Skipped back.  Tried again.  And again.  And again.

What was the line?

“And what to my wond’ring eyes should appear but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.”

If it had been a movie, all kinds of crazy memories would have exploded on the screen.  “Jolly old elf…” Things like that.

“Santa Claus is tiny.  All the books and movies get it wrong.  He’s tiny!”

I’m pretty sure a kid said something like, “He’s also not real.”

The hypocrisy began right there because I’m pretty sure I said, “Who cares? He’s tiny!”

The story emerged right away.  A precocious, bratty kid who was accustomed to getting what he wants and smart enough to do something with that.  And a kid who wants all the presents to himself, of course.

Hypocrite much?

Let me be a bit “on the nose” here and point out a few things.

  1. I can’t stand bratty kids—in fiction or in real life. I’ve very little patience with them, and the child I wrote is awful.  My kids looked at me like I’d lost my mind when they discovered what a little tyrant I’d created.
  2. I wrote a book about Santa Claus.
  3. My book about Santa Claus doesn’t even hint at the real point of Christmas! Jesus isn’t even mentioned.

All three of those are things that would make me run from the book if I saw it in the store.

But I wrote it.  And, while I’m baring my soul to the world here, I should confess that I had fun writing it.

I like the silly little book.

As a general rule, I don’t talk about it much on my site here.  Why? Well, it’s a Santa story that takes place at Christmas and features nothing whatsoever about the goodness of God.  It doesn’t fall under my “Christian fiction without apology or pretense—lived, not preached” motto, you know?

However, as they say, confession is good for the soul.   So I’m confessing.  I wrote it.  It has cute pictures and silly fantasy elements including a few fun elves and an evil cousin to Santa, Scrooge.  You’ll find catapults that fire “snow cones” at the enemy.  For the uninitiated, “snow cones” are pine cones with snow packed around them.

I’m curious:  Who can tell me why I named it “Moore’s Code?”

For the offended, please forgive me.  Meanwhile, HERE’S why I usually write Christmas books–ones where Jesus is where He belongs.

 

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Comments

  1. valerie says

    January 3, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    We are a rare group. We don’t do Santa because when I was in third grade I started doubting and questioning the guy who never looked the same from one year to the next.

    My dad hired a Santa to come into my bedroom and wake me up and give me a gift (early). He had such a good laugh about it for years and years. “For just one moment you believed.” I thought it was my dad dressed up as Santa, but I was shocked when he called my name at the doorway where he stood watching.

    So that is why we don’t lie to our kids about Santa… I wanted them to trust me that Jesus is alive and real, even if you canot see him.

    I am glad you had fun writig a silly book. Honestly my favorite books you have written are Past Forward and the Heartland series. I also enjoyed the group with Ready or Not. I doubt I will read this one, no hard feelings. It just isn’t my cup of egg nog. 😉

    God bless!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      January 4, 2019 at 5:06 am

      Well, as I said. I’m a total hypocrite for writing it. I would never have hard feelings about someone ignoring it. I enjoy the others way too much, too. If you like Past Forward, be sure you’re on my birthday list! I wouldn’t want you to miss out on Kari’s Birthday!

      Reply
  2. Wanda says

    December 6, 2018 at 11:51 am

    Finally I have met a person who feels like I do about Santa. The day I found out he was not real I vowed to never lie to my children about it. Why? Because as a small child I cried, not because it ruined my belief, but because I felt sorry for all the children who believed and did not get a gift for Christmas and could not understand why they were not good enough. I learned then that there is never a good reason for a lie.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 6, 2018 at 4:57 pm

      Yeah, it’s not for me. I get that most kids don’t have that kind of betrayal feeling, but man, I would have. My parents were so scrupulously honest with me, I would have lost all trust in them.

      Reply
  3. NZ Filbruns says

    December 6, 2018 at 10:21 am

    I am, and always have been opposed to anything Santa. Now I’m going to break a lifelong thing and read a Santa book. Why? Because you wrote it and I’m curious.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 6, 2018 at 4:59 pm

      I’m so very sorry. LOL. It was one of those, “Wow. I found something quirky. I have to DO something with this.” And it’s fun. But it’s totally silly and of no eternal value. Unless it’s that you’ll love the grandpa and his wisdom. I do think Grandpa is an awesome dude.

      Reply
  4. Lucinda Culp says

    December 6, 2018 at 9:19 am

    I CAN!!! But I was involved in a whole lot of conversations with you during the writing of Moore’s Code, so it wouldn’t be fair. I still enjoy this book, and am so very careful not to end up on Santa’s permanent naughty list..can’t be too careful, you know!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 6, 2018 at 5:00 pm

      Right?

      Reply
  5. ozarkgrandma says

    December 6, 2018 at 7:28 am

    Love the play on words, er — names. Clement Moore wrote The Night before Christmas. I have no idea how to Translate Morse code. but I am in awe of the people who did it – in old movies etc. ha ha We never “did” Santa either, so I can identify with much of what you wrote. Love your honesty. Now I HAVE to go read that silly story..

    Reply
  6. Courtney says

    December 6, 2018 at 6:45 am

    We don’t do Santa, either. All six of our kids were adopted from Ukraine at an average age of five. I couldn’t reconcile how to explain why Santa never visited them in the orphanage but would now that they had a family. All of the stories and popular culture say that Santa visits “good” kids. What does *that* tell all of the orphans??

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 6, 2018 at 5:01 pm

      That is a fabulous (and awful, you know) point!

      Reply
  7. Rebekah Walker says

    December 6, 2018 at 5:25 am

    You made me laugh!! Now I can’t NOT read this book. ???

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 234: A Chat about The Chosen Kids with RM Ruiz
byChautona Havig

Remember when you were a kid and you wanted to help with whatever the family was doing, so Great Aunt Tissy gave you a stack of napkins and told you to put one at each plate? Remember how she commented on what a  “big girl” you were?  And then, as if that weren’t bad enough… remember how you were fourteen and a “big girl” was the last thing you wanted to be? 

RM Ruiz’ The Chosen Kids Saga does just the opposite. She has a cast of related characters who are given real work by God–important work. They’re pulling on the armor of God and doing real battle with real enemies of the Kingdom of God and all while He works out their sanctification. Listen in to where she got the idea and where the Chosen Kids are going next.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you!

What if God Decided to Use Ordinary Kids to Battle the Underworld?

Can I just say that I love the respect Rosemary shows her characters? These kids, as young as eleven, aren’t told to fold napkins and praised as if they saved the world. They’re given tools and assignments and do save the world… or at least a piece of it and with the real help of the Holy Spirit. How cool is that?

And she does it with a tortilla in one hand and some eye and mouth-watering chili stuffs in the other.

Oh… and don’t forget the research for Encounter at Paradise that sent her up a literal slippery slope into frozen tundra. In July. #BecauseResearch.

And the result is book two of the Chosen Kids Saga! (To listen to the first episode where we talked more about the first book, go HERE.)

The Chosen Kids: Encounter at Paradise by RM Ruiz

A thrilling adventure for middle-grade readers, showcasing the supernatural powers of God, His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.This is the second book of The Chosen Kids Saga.The Chosen Kids are ready for their second mission!

It’s been two weeks since Caiden and his family’s summer of fun turned into a secret quest for God. After their first mission, the Chosen Kids step into their new roles without fear or reluctance. With revived faith and God’s blessed tools, they embark on their second hunt—ready to track, capture, and expel the enemy.

But the day turns into a tedious game of hide-and-seek as the family races to get ahead of the fiend. When the unthinkable happens, and their mission becomes personal, they must keep the faith and trust God’s plan. They could set things right with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, but only if they obey His commands completely. Caiden thinks he’s uncovered the answer, but no one ever listens to the youngest cousin…

With nightfall quickly approaching, the Chosen Kids set a trap.

But if their plan fails, they could lose one of their most valuable assets, and their quest will end in heartbreak and disaster.

In this next chapter of the Chosen Kids Saga, readers will see the cousins in action as they take on their new roles with renewed spirits. Just like the first book, this fast-paced adventure includes family love, kid banter, and humor with even more adventure, danger, and spiritual growth!

This series mixes fantasy and adventure elements with transparent Christian themes for young believers who want a story that includes gospel truths without reading through symbolism.

Middle-grade readers will follow along as these flawed, relatable characters—still finding their way in Christ—embark on a life-transforming quest to save humanity. With family love, spiritual growth, kid banter, and humor all mixed in for a fun and exciting journey.

The adventure starts with Encounter at the Dunes and continues in Encounter at Paradise. Grab a copy of both to begin the redemptive journey today! Book three, Encounter At Ambrose, coming summer 2024.

Learn more about the series, the characters, and Rosemary at TheChosenKids.com

And the series she mentioned was The Son of Angels.

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