During the last three months of 2021, I played the role of Santa Claus. These are my observations on Parental Interaction with their children.
The Story and the Lessons #1
He waited in the darkened schoolroom as the excited voices grew louder.
When the Princes, and the children, counted the 1-2-3, the Star on the top of the Christmas tree lit up and Santa Clause left the safe, security of the schoolroom and rushed out to meet the children...his work had begun.
Welcome to the world of Santa Claus. But, perhaps, not the world you are familiar with.
It’s a world of interaction and performance. No sitting on Santa's knee for 10 seconds, no waiting in queues for thirty minutes. This was a two and a half hour, interactive performance. In fact, it was a production. A Princes. Two elves. A script. Music. Effects and lights and audio. Everything had to be rehearsed, timed and coordinated right down to the costume changes. And, of course, there was Santa.
The Role: The role of Santa is a strange one. The script gives him minimal words to say but his actions are central to the show. He appears with a "Ho Ho Ho" of course and the eyes of the children light up. The parents all point and say "Look it's Santa." And, their eyes light up as well.
Meeting the kids for the first time should energise any Santa. As they sit cross-legged waiting for the man in red to stand in front of them and without doubt, when he asks the children to create 'Christmas Cheer' they all nod their heads. And, that is why playing Santa isn't easy.
The children believe that Santa is standing in front of them, that every action Santa takes is watched and, perhaps copied by the children. Over the course of this article, I will go into the positives and negatives of the Santa role. The Psychology of Santa1. “The Santa Claus myth dates back hundreds of years to a real-life monk named St. Nicholas who was born around 280 AD in modern-day Turkey.”
Through the ages, and through communities it is strongly, believed that pagan’s had characters with similar actions and cultural benefits for the people of the time. The character wore different clothes and performed in different ceremonies, but the effects were still the same-to bring joy to the people for a certain period of time (depending on the country).
The Children:2. “Children are also most likely to believe in Santa if parents leave evidence around the house to support his story.” The proof was writ-large with the start of every performance.”It’s Santa.” The parent’s, in the main, were as excited as the children as all eyes turned to the man in the red suit and the white beard. The children’s eyes lit up and the belief was unquestionable in the children between the ages of 3, up to 8 years of age. And, as Santa asked the children if they would help create magic by “joining in all the games and having fun” all of them nodded their heads.
The Adults* By and large, there was a discernable change in the attitudes of the mother and father to the performances from the end of the introduction. Mothers were more likely to join in with the games and the dances that followed while fathers spent a much shorter time with the children in the village and were more likely to have their mobile phones out for business than for taking pictures.
In the next article, I will be talking about the performances themselves and, again, the lessons I took from observing the generations as they began this magical adventure.
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