My 3 stepsons are now all grown up. One has blessed me with my darling grandson – the light of my life.
My family’s Santa’s don’t look like the Santa’s I grew up with. They might not look like yours, either.
Which leads me to a little back story as to why Santa comes in different colors in my house.
Christmas 1991 –
BBH’s three sons were getting ready to move in with us on the 1st of the year. They spent a weekend in December with us for Christmas-planning festivities.
I was very excited at the prospect of becoming a mother to a 7, 10 & 12 year old.
I thought having a family meant tons of warm, fuzzy Kodak moments.
I had wanted kids for-evah in the worst way, but God had other plans for me.
Being a 30-something woman who hadn’t been around little boys, I did what anyone would do – I bought ceramic ornaments for the boys to paint.
Being a 30-something woman who was extremely, uh, thrifty, I only bought 4 or 5 colors of paint, figuring they could mix their own colors.
Surprise #1 – they didn’t know how to mix colors.
Surprise #2 – ‘craft’ time with 3 not-so-little boys didn’t go like the commercials on TV (or the warm, fuzzy images in my mind)
Surprise #3 – they painted Santa with brown faces.
I still have those ornaments, tucked safely away in a box. Somewhere.
Being a 30-something woman with no parenting experience, these were only the first of many, many surprises.
Many.
People tried to warn me about the perils of step-parenting, but I didn’t listen. Heck, I was raised in a blended family. If anyone should’ve known, I should’ve.
But that’s another story.
This story is about Santa with the brown face.
Back in the 90’s it was nearly impossible to find brown Santas.
So I painted my own.
It’s still not too easy to find brown Santa’s.
Now, 20 years later, with a ‘light brown’ grandson, I thought I was better equipped to explain Christmas, white Santa’s, brown Santa’s, and why it’s the season of GIVING.
Surprise # 537 – 3 year old’s ask harder questions than this 50-something gramma can answer.
The hand towels I hang in my bathroom everyear have angels on them and someone just told me a couple days ago that the angels have brown skin. Isnt it funny/yet awsome that It took soo long for anyone to notice. I love your brown skinned santas!
Definitely, Santa comes in different colors. Yours are pretty.