Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells have a very special meaning and many wonderful memories for our family.  It all started the year my oldest daughter Amber turned 7 and wasn't sure if there really was a Santa Clause... that is the year that my Uncle (my VERY FAVORITE Uncle) started the jingle bell Santa calls.  It wasn't until Amber turned 17, that she finally figured out who was making those calls... and then it was only because we had moved to Michigan... she had gotten used to the northern Michigan accent... and it was my Uncle's southern accent that finally gave him away.

Because I just didn't want the magical fun of believing in Santa to end for her yet... and she was soooo upset to not be sure if he did, or if he did not exist, that the plan for the Santa calls began.  She was told by a friend that Santa Clause wasn't real... that it was her parents who were actually Santa Claus... she was devastated and not wanting to believe her friend's tale.

Our family has many Christmas traditions that we hold dear... and Santa Clause tales are among our favorites.  As a parent you always fear the time when your child arrives at these kind of questions... where do babies come from... is Santa Clause real... is the Easter Bunny real... etc... and that they will share their new found knowledge to their younger siblings.  So..... what is a parent to do???  Well of course the first thing I did was to call my own Mother with this dilemma and asked her... "What do I do??"  She then repeated my conversation with my Aunt... who in turn told my Uncle... who in turn came up with the Santa call plan.

My Uncle has this set of large jingle bells on a leather strap... and he decided to call my girls on Christmas Eve... he would talk in his Santa voice, and as soon as they would answer he would begin with a big HO HO HO chuckle... jingle his jingle bells... ask for each daughter by name, and tell them things he knew about them and what they had done good and bad during the year... he would tell them to improve on the bad things and praise them for the good things... always ending by telling them to mind their parents and do good in school.  What a great plan this was... and they actually believed it, and looked forward to this call for many years... even when they old enough to know the truth about Christmas tales, they still went along with the tradition of these calls... and enjoyed them every single year.

Here is how the plan worked...

I would call my Mom a week or two before Christmas Eve and give her a list of things about them that know one else could possibly know, so that my Uncle was always well prepared in advance on how to make his calls very specific and personal to each of my daughters.  The funny thing is... by the time Christmas Eve came around we were usually preparing to head out to the church candlelight service and were typically in a rush so that we would arrive in time to get a good seat in church... so the Santa phone call would always catch them by complete surprise.  Knowing that when the phone rang it would be Santa... I always made an excuse of why one of the girls would need to answer the phone.  I have the sweetest memory photo of their faces when they answered the phone and believed it to be Santa!  Their faces would truly light up, and each of them would wiggle and squirm wanting whichever sister was on the phone to HURRY UP... so they could get their chance to talk to Santa before we had to leave for church.  Hilarious!!!!

Of course my girls would share these stories with their friends... who would be totally envious that they didn't receive such a call to talk to Santa before he loaded his sleigh up and begin his trek around the world.  The reason this plan worked so well for so long is because of the personal information my Uncle would relate back to them... they were always amazed that he would know these special things about them.  Those calls are such precious and priceless memories that I and my girls will cherish forever.

My Uncle saved Christmas for Amber that year and kept her believing in the magic of Christmas for a couple years more... and then, when she was too old to believe in such childish things, she still looked forward to the tradition of his calls... always playing along so that her sisters would continue to believe as long as possible.  THANK YOU Uncle Hobert... I'll always be grateful for the extra years of believing you gave my girls!

And.... you really and truly are, and always have been my FAVORITE Uncle!!!  HUGS!!!! Vickie Lynn