Here is a cute little Christmas story for you.

This tale took place when I was 8 years old and had bloomed into Tracie Little Miss Know It All.

Our parents had set up a beautifully decorated tree in the living room as they always did and my younger sisters and I were uber excited about the dolls and playthings that we would find beneath it on Christmas morning.

Well, one day, unbeknownst to us, our Mom overheard a conversation between me and my sister Robin that went something like this:

R: I can’t wait to see what Santa is going to bring me!

”TLMKIA: Don’t be silly! Mama and Daddy buy the presents!

R: No they don’t! Santa Claus makes them at the North Pole and he brings them down the chimney!

TLMKIA: “No he doesn’t! He’s not even a real person!

R: “Yes he is and he brings the toys!

”TLMKIA: “No he doesn’t and everybody knows it!

”Shortly after this little exchange, the big day arrived. My sisters and I sprang out of our beds and met each other at the top of the stairwell. We tip toed down the first few stairs giggling and as we turned on the landing we could see the tree all tinselly and blinking.

There was nothing underneath it.

Confused and frankly scared to death, we raced down the remaining stairs and stood in the room before the tree bereft of gifts.What had happened

We screamed for our parents who came rushing in from the kitchen.

“What’s the matter?” they asked us in unison.

“Santa didn’t bring us anything! There’s nothing here!“

“Well now don’t get upset,” Mama said. “He must have been here!”

“Come on,” Daddy said “Let’s go look in the other room where the fireplace is.”

Our hopes soared.

Nothing.

“Santa must have been here,” Mama said.

She and Daddy looked around the room and suddenly had another idea.

“Let’s go look downstairs in the basement!” they said.

The basement? We never went in the basement! Mama just went down there to do the laundry and daddy would store construction materials in the back rooms.

Daddy and Mama descended the stairs first. My sisters and I followed and lo and behold there was anothertree with all the presents underneath!

This is a story we still laugh about and cherish, but as a teenager I told my folks that this was just a perverse thing to do to us kids. They explained that there is a moral to the story that they wanted to instil within us as children that we would have forever:

When you stop believing, you stop receiving.

And now I have shared it with you. So whether it’s your probability of achieving a certain success, a principal thing you’ve got your heart set on or even finding a parking place-Believe it-Don’t give Santa a reason not to show up!

Happy holidays!©2011

Tracie Frank Mayer